AES Indiana and AES Ohio: two utilities under the same parent
AES is the U.S. brand used by two regulated electric utilities: AES Indiana, serving Central Indiana around Indianapolis, and AES Ohio, serving the Miami Valley around Dayton. Both companies are subsidiaries of The AES Corporation and run multi-year Smart Grid programs to modernize aging infrastructure.
- The size of the AES Indiana and AES Ohio networks
- Why power outages happen on the AES grid
- The Smart Grid plans in Indiana and Ohio
- How smart meters and reclosers are reshaping reliability
539,000 customers in Dayton and 530,000 in Indianapolis
AES Indiana provides electric service in central Indiana, anchored by the Indianapolis metro. AES Ohio provides electric service in West Central Ohio, anchored by Dayton and the surrounding Miami Valley.
- About 539,000 customers served by AES Ohio in West Central Ohio.
- AES Indiana serves the Indianapolis metropolitan area and surrounding counties in central Indiana.
- AES Ohio has the lowest distribution and transmission rates among Ohio investor-owned utilities.
- AES Indiana ranks among the lowest residential rates of any investor-owned utility in Indiana.
AES Indiana is regulated by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) and AES Ohio by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). Both are subsidiaries of The AES Corporation (NYSE: AES), headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.
Severe Midwest storms and aging copper lines: why AES customers lose power
Both Indiana and West Central Ohio sit in the U.S. severe weather corridor, with thunderstorms, ice storms and increasingly frequent extreme heat. Some equipment is more than 50 years old, which is a primary driver of the current modernization plans.
Severe storms
Thunderstorms, derechos and tornadoes drive most large-scale outages on both networks. The April 2, 2025 Level III storm in Indiana caused widespread damage but was largely contained thanks to recent grid upgrades.
Ice storms
Winter ice storms cause some of the longest restoration events on both networks, with ice on conductors and broken tree limbs combining to take down circuits.
Trees and vegetation
Tree contact remains a recurring outage driver. Both AES Indiana and AES Ohio have increased their vegetation management budgets in recent rate cases.
Aging infrastructure
Some equipment in the AES Indiana territory is more than 50 years old. Replacement and modernization is the largest single line item of the multi-year Smart Grid plan.
The $1.2 billion Smart Grid plan in Indiana
Both AES Indiana and AES Ohio are running large multi-year capital plans focused on Smart Grid technology and aging-asset replacement. AES Ohio also filed a 2027-2029 reliability plan in November 2025 under Ohio's new House Bill 15.
AES investment plan in numbers
AES Indiana: $1.2 billion seven-year Smart Grid plan approved by the IURC.
AES Ohio: $249 million Smart Grid Phase 1 (smart meters and reclosers) followed by Phase 2 ($240 million over four years).
Smart meters deployed to 95% of AES Ohio customers by summer 2025.
AES Indiana: 39,400 customer outages avoided during the April 2, 2025 Level III storm thanks to recent upgrades.
AES Indiana: $1.1 billion in clean energy investments in Pike County (battery storage and solar).
Generation modernization is parallel to grid work: the Pike County 200 MW battery storage facility is operational, and Petersburg Units 3 and 4 are being repowered from coal to natural gas by end of 2026.
Smart meters, Pike County batteries and Petersburg solar
Smart meters
Smart meters automatically detect when power is out at a home, send outage alerts, deliver estimated restoration times and reduce estimated billing. The deployment is nearly complete in Ohio and well advanced in Indiana.
Mid-line reclosers and self-healing
Mid-line reclosers automatically isolate damaged sections of a feeder and restore power to as many customers as possible. AES Ohio reports fewer outages and shorter restoration times since Phase 1 deployment.
Real-time grid virtualization
AES uses real-time grid virtualization technologies in both Indiana and Ohio to test new ideas, optimize the grid for renewables, reduce costs and add new efficiencies into the system.
Clean energy generation
AES Indiana adds 200 MW battery storage in Pike County, 250 MW of solar and 180 MWh of storage at the Petersburg Energy Center, plus the Crossvine Solar + Storage project (85 MW solar and 85 MW / 4-hour battery) approved by the IURC for 2027.
AES outage map and customer alerts
AES outage map
AES Indiana and AES Ohio each publish a public outage map updated in near real-time. Customers can search by address or zip code to see the size of an outage and follow estimated restoration times.
Mobile app and alerts
The AES mobile apps give access to the outage map, let customers report a power outage and push proactive SMS, email and app notifications when service is interrupted.
Bill assistance and customer protections
AES Indiana eliminated residential customer disconnections on Fridays, weekends and certain holidays, expanded protections for customers with Medical Alerts, and supports the Power of Change program and the Indiana Community Action Association.
Duke Energy and Indiana/Ohio ISPs
For a wider view of how the U.S. electric grid works and why outages happen, see the U.S. power outage page. Another major utility serving Indiana, Ohio and several southeastern states is Duke Energy. For internet outages across the same Indiana and Ohio footprint, the most common providers are Spectrum, AT&T and Xfinity.