BlackRock's $33 Billion Utility Buyout Got Two Answers: Ohio Drew a Line, Indiana Kept Billing
PUCO approved the $33.4 billion AES takeover with a ban on merger costs in rates and data-center recusals for directors. Indiana's $71 million increase keeps billing 500,000 meters while a rehearing triggered by Google's data center and the buyout itself waits until March 2027.
Vincent Jiang · 3 min read
Half a million meters, no answer yet
Indiana bills through the $71M increase while the rehearing waits until March 2027
- AES Indiana base-rate increase in effect
- Estimate
Data
| AES Indiana base-rate increase in effect | |
|---|---|
| Jun 2025 | $0M |
| Jul 2026 | $71M |
| Jan 2027 | $71M |
| Mar 2027 (estimate) | $71M |
Indianapolis households began paying phase one of AES Indiana's $71 million increase on 27 July 2026. Phase two, about $8.50 a month for a typical household, lands in January. The evidentiary hearing that could revisit the whole order sits in early March 2027, and more than 500,000 accounts are living inside that gap 1.
The $33.4 billion math
BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners, EQT Infrastructure VI, CalPERS and the Qatar Investment Authority are paying $15.00 a share for AES: about $10.7 billion in equity, $33.4 billion with debt 2. Stockholders approved it on 26 June 2026 with roughly 98 percent of votes cast, and closing is expected late 2026 or early 2027 23. The fund behind the bid targets up to 20 percent gross annual returns, against roughly 9 percent for public utilities over the past decade 4. AES Ohio is separately seeking a $143 million rate increase 4.
The bid targets 20% gross returns against roughly 9% for public utilities
- Annual return
- Estimate
Data
| Annual return | |
|---|---|
| Buyout fund target, gross (estimate) | 20% |
| Public utilities, past decade | 9% |
| Implied by the 17-cent spread (estimate) | 1.15% |
Ohio's answer: the bill is not the exit
PUCO authorized the change of control on 17 September while barring merger costs from customer rates, ordering directors with data-center interests off data-center votes, and requiring three years of updates 57. The recusal proviso is unusual enough that trade press flagged it alone 6. PUCO also noted the limit of its reach: it regulates the utility's conduct, not who owns the parent 5.
AES asked Indiana for $193M and got $71M; Ohio's $143M ask is still open
- Estimate
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| AES Indiana asked, June 2025 filing | $193M |
| AES Indiana approved, June 2026 | $71M |
| AES Ohio pending ask (estimate) | $143M |
The chain that forced the question
A tenant, a plant and the wires
EQT-backed EdgeConneX wants two hyperscale data centers and a dedicated 800 megawatt gas plant in Ashville, Ohio, enough power for roughly 600,000 homes 48. Buy the parent and the consortium holds the tenant, the plant and the wires. Indiana's is sharper: the rehearing was granted solely over Google's Monrovia data center and the buyout, with the Citizens Action Coalition alleging AES executed Google agreements mid-case without correcting sworn testimony 19.
The defense: equity, not leverage
Supporters answer that the purchase is funded entirely with equity, layers on no new debt and leaves credit ratings affirmed, and that AES has signed 11.8 gigawatts of supply agreements with technology firms for 1.1 million utility customers who need the capital 10. PUCO's own order says no rates, terms, employees or operations change because of the merger 57.
FERC is the last gate
PJM's Independent Market Monitor has questioned whether the deal's market-power analysis captures BlackRock's utility holdings, and PESP with Public Citizen and the Citizens Action Coalition has asked FERC to block the sale or force a breakup, Docket EC26-99 410. Twenty-three Republican governors, including Indiana's Mike Braun, have signed a pledge that data centers pay the full cost of their own power 11. The stock trades at $14.83 against the $15.00 offer 12. Those 17 cents are the market's charge for everything unresolved above.
How this brief was made
01Gathered & sourced184 channels · 1,362 articles▾
Agents swept 184 channels and ingested 1,362 articles, then de-duplicated and ranked them for signal.
02Verified & cross-validated12 claims · 12 data feeds▾
Every one of 12 load-bearing claims was checked against primary sources, with 12 live data feeds reconciling the figures and charts.
- 1Hoosier Enquirer, "AES Indiana's $71M rate hike keeps billing Indy while IURC rehearing stalls into 2027", 25 September 2026
- 2AES Corporation press release via StreetInsider/PRNewswire, "AES Stockholders Approve Acquisition by Global Infrastructure Partners and EQT-Led Consortium", 26 June 2026
- 3Reuters, "Utility group AES fields complaints against its $33.4 billion proposed sale", 12 June 2026
- 4Private Equity Stakeholder Project, "PUCO approves BlackRock AES takeover despite rate and profit concerns", 25 September 2026
- 5Daily Energy Insider, "Ohio commission approves AES Ohio merger, bans ratepayer recovery of deal costs", 22 September 2026
- 6RTO Insider, "Ohio Commission Advances AES Acquisition", 20 September 2026
- 7Dayton Daily News via Yahoo Finance, "State regulators approve sale of AES Ohio's parent company", 18 September 2026
- 8Cleveland.com, "Ohio Supreme Court case to decide if residents get any say on data center in their back yards", 29 July 2026
- 9WXIN Fox59 via MSN, "IURC agrees to rehear case on AES Indiana rate increase", 2 September 2026
- 10Forbes, "Opponents Of The AES Deal Are Fighting The Wrong Battle", 2 August 2026
- 11WXIN Fox59 via MSN, "Advocacy groups file federal complaint over BlackRock acquisition of AES", 24 July 2026
- 12AInvest, "AES Is Being Bought for $15 a Share. It Trades at $14.83. Those 17 Cents Are the Whole Deal.", 25 September 2026
03Reviewed & edited1 human editor▾
One editor read the draft against the evidence, tuned the framing, and signed off before it shipped.
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