INDIANAPOLIS — AES Indiana customers are still weighing in on the utility company's request for a rate increase. It's something we've been covering for several months.
Tuesday night, at Community Alliance of the Far East Side, or C.A.F.E., AES had an open house allowing customers to get information and give feedback.
WRTV was there to hear from customers and to see how this proposed rate increase will impact them.
“With the seniors, we're on fixed income. You've got to choose between staying cool, staying warm, or feeding yourself, and it's rough on seniors," AES customer Collette Ezell said.
There are many stories like Ezell’s, who is already seeing how the AES proposed rate increase will impact her.
"My budget billing was 92, the meter electricity services were 180. And I'm like, 'Jesus, why?' That's why I'm out here to find out," Ezell said.
"The cost of living is increasing, and we're no stranger to that at AES Indiana," Mallory Duncan, Communications Director for AES Indiana, said.
Customers were able to go to each booth to learn more about what went into the rate increase request. The table about “Vegetation Management” received many visits from customers, considering it’s one of the key factors in the rate increase.
"We know that 30% of our storm outages come from trees, whether it's a branch falling or a tree falling on a line. So, vegetation management and keeping that cycle is going to be really important for us," Duncan said.
Duncan said tree-trimming costs have gone up by 185% since 2022. Managing vegetation could help out with outages during storms, because there would be fewer branches falling.
"We have a normal tree trimming schedule. This is not anything new for us. But now we're going to execute a more robust tree trimming schedule so we can get into the details, but basically, we're trimming 15 feet away from the lines," Duncan said.
Ezell said that although she's enrolled in budget billing with her utilities, she tries to take advantage of other programs like Cool Cents and Smart Thermostat rebates.
"You know, and I'm all for the budget. I'm strictly budgeting because, hey,12 months out of a year, and with you being a senior, that budget helps," Ezell said.
AES said there are two more opportunities for customers to attend an open house.
The first is this Thursday, on October 2, at Southeast Community Services, 901 Shelby Street, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The next one is Tuesday, October 7, at Pike Township Trustee, 4665 Lafayette Rd, Suite C, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
