INDIANAPOLIS — Did you notice an unusually large charge on your AES bill this past month?
If you did, you aren't the only one. Many AES customers are complaining about extra deposit charges of hundreds of dollars that were added to their accounts.
WATCH FULL STORY BELOW
WRTV spoke with two residents who were impacted. Both said they were shocked to hear how much they owed AES.
“I knew it was ridiculous," Douglas Morris, a long-time AES customer, stated.
"When I called in, I was just like, 'How much is my bill? I'm just gonna pay it,' and they said a number that was double what I thought it was," Quentessa Sanders, another long-term customer, said.
For Sanders, nearly $400 was added to her account as a deposit fee.
“For me to get that bill is like, how am I going to maintain everything else and still pay this bill?" she questioned.
“I mean, $700 is enough to ruin somebody’s rest of the year," Morris said.
That's how much was tacked on to his account.
“I initially called, and when I couldn't get through, that’s when I took it to social media," Morris explained.
He posted his bill to Facebook and soon enough, hundreds of others shared photos of their own inflated bills. The charges that were added ranged from $300 to $1000.
“That’s where the whole predatory thing comes in at," Morris said. "Because everybody can’t advocate for themselves.”
Indiana utility companies can charge a deposit fee when a customer has poor credit, is a new customer, or has a history of late payments or non-payment. However, that number should not exceed more than 1/6 of your annual estimated bill.
That was the issue many customers faced this past month.
“This is just the latest in a string of many billing system problems that AES Indiana customers have experienced since AES rolled out a new customer billing and information system," Ben Inskeep, Program Director with Citizens Action Coalition, explained.
In an email to affected customers, AES said they had "identified an error that affected the calculation of a small amount of customer deposits," which overcharged some accounts. They also said everyone affected by the incorrect charge has been contacted and that they are working to diagnose the issue that caused the mistake.
WRTV reached out to the utility giant for more information about the customers who were overcharged. They got back to us, saying:
The error did not charge a deposit to accounts that were not eligible for one. The error was for a small subset of accounts that had a deposit.
Every customer that was impacted has been contacted. There is no action for them to take.
We are encouraging customers that were sent an email last week to go into their online account, and if they don’t have one create one, to see real-time changes in their account.
Customers we spoke with said they still have concerns.
“If I didn’t post it, they weren’t gonna fix that," Morris exclaimed. "If that post didn’t get so much heat, they weren’t gonna fix it.”
“It shouldn’t take something going viral and AES’ image being particularly damaged to make them do what’s right," Sanders said.
If your bill was affected, AES said you should have already gotten an email from the company, and you don’t need to do anything else to get a new bill or refund.
If you have any questions, you can contact AES customer service at 317-261-8222 or fill out their contact form here.
—
Casey Zanowic is the In Your Community reporter for North Side Indy. She joined WRTV in July of 2025. Casey has a passion for storytelling and is ready to showcase impactful stories that make a difference in her community. Share your story ideas and important issues with Casey by emailing her at casey.zanowic@wrtv.com.
