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Brandi
Davis-Handy
President, AES Indiana
Dear Community,
For close to a century, AES Indiana’s commitment to our customers and Central Indiana has gone far beyond providing affordable, reliable and sustainable energy solutions. Improving lives for our customers and community only starts at the flip of a switch. True impact happens when we mobilize our people power to go out to local community and senior centers to foster relationships and provide energy-saving tips. It happens when hundreds of our people roll up their sleeves and plant trees and paint murals in our parks. Impact also happens when we volunteer our time and talents to mentor youth and adults. Giving back is core to who we are and is at the heart of everything we do.
In 2023, AES Indiana maintained this commitment to the communities we serve by investing more than $2 million to organizations serving diverse customer needs. AES Indiana focuses on building long-term and meaningful strategic partnerships in the areas of education and workforce development, arts and culture, economic development, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our community impact report highlights these efforts, including our growing focus on driving economic growth to ensure the long-term sustainability of our communities.
Our mission is to accelerate the future of energy and we can only do this by working for and beside our customers. In the past few years, our communities have experienced a lot of change. I’m proud of the work our team has done to navigate complex challenges, including diversifying our generation portfolio to cleaner and greener resources while maintaining the lowest rates of any investor-owned utility in Indiana. As you will read in our 2023 Community Impact Report, our people will continue to look for ways to better serve our customers, create exceptional experiences and lead a responsible and inclusive energy transition.
We thank our customers and stakeholders for the trust you have in us. Together, we are building a sustainable, more resilient community that benefits us all – Illuminating Central Indiana, All Together.
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2023 Total investments
Percentage of total investments
Diversity, equity & inclusion
Percentages denote diversity-driven organization and programming in each investment category
AES Indiana does not pass on the cost of its community investments or advertising to customers.
AES Indiana is committed to strengthening the state and local economies by attracting new and growing business and retaining existing customers. AES Indiana is a critical infrastructure partner deeply engaged in economic and community development to support job creation and business development in the communities we serve. Together with partners, we work together as one team united by common goals and shared values to build for the future.
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500 Festival Parade
In 2023, AES Indiana brought its people and community together to fuel May. To kick off the month of May, AES' line workers volunteered for the 500 Festival Mini Marathon bringing their bucket trucks around the race route serving as mile markers for runners and walkers.
The theme “Fueling May” brought more than 200,000 people All Together for the AES 500 Festival Parade to celebrate the race’s long history and momentum. AES’ 85-foot-long float, themed “Fueling Indy,” featured wind turbines and solar panels around the Soldiers and Sailors Monument paying homage to our commitment to community-driven power. The parade serves as a platform showcasing the City of Indianapolis to Indiana residents and the thousands of tourists that visit for the Indy 500. Each year, more than half a million people attend an event or program produced by the 500 Festival. Since its founding, the 500 Festival has contributed more than $500 million in economic value to Indianapolis.
AES Indiana celebrated the many ways it powers the community by highlighting longstanding community partners, including featuring members from Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana and GANGGANG to join AES on the float.
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Polymer Center/Blue Polymers project
An example of our involvement in our community's economic development is the Polymer Center/Blue Polymers project, a partnership between Republic Services, Ravago and Blue Polymers. The Indianapolis recycling complex on the south side will include two buildings totaling about 286,000 square feet and an estimated 125 permanent and highly skilled local jobs. The economic multiplier effect of this project will create more than 100 indirect jobs and millions of dollars of additional investment throughout the community.
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AES Indiana Yuletide Celebration
For nine seasons, AES Indiana has continued its support of the annual holiday tradition, AES Indiana Yuletide Celebration. In 2023, the quintessential Hoosier holiday tradition featured Broadway star, Ben Crawford, MOIPEI and the dance troupe Expressenz. More than 41,000 people were drawn to downtown Indianapolis to experience the magic of AES Indiana Yuletide Celebration through 30 performances at the historic Hilbert Circle Theatre.
By the numbers:
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AES Indiana BUTTER
AES Indiana was the Title Sponsor of the third annual BUTTER, the annual multi-day art fair for equity. BUTTER is produced by GANGGANG, a cultural development firm that activates the creative economy to center beauty, equity and culture to bring people together. In 2023, BUTTER featured 49 artists, four galleries and six curators that were recognized on local and national levels. BUTTER raised nearly $300,000 in sales with 100 percent going back to the Black artists featured at the art fair. BUTTER broke all previous sales and attendance records – and doubled the average price per artwork sold during the week. GANGGANG and the BUTTER art fair are activating and growing the creative economy in Indianapolis by advocating for artists and supporting the discovery of new artistic talent.
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Keep Indianapolis Beautiful (KIB)
Together, AES Indiana and KIB are creating vibrant places and communities to help Indy thrive. The AES Indiana Project GreenSpace, a KIB program, turns vacant lots into functional community spaces, such as pocket parks or outdoor classrooms. Alongside researchers from the University of Michigan School of Public Health, KIB has been studying greenspaces and their potential impact on violence reduction. This recent study found a 12 percent reduction in gun violence within a half-mile radius of areas where KIB has created GreenSpaces.
Community members can submit their neighborhood for consideration and, if selected, applicants work with KIB and landscape architects to create a design that captures the sense of spirit and pride of their local neighborhood.
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Power of Change
AES Indiana completed its fourth year of Power of Change, a program designed to help warm the homes of those struggling to pay their winter heating bills. Power of Change helps income-qualified customers with a one-time grant to assist with electric bill payments. Through the Dollar Energy Fund, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, contributors can make tax-deductible gifts that help their neighbors keep their lights on and their furnace running.
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Board affiliations
Our AES Indiana people serve in the community through a variety of board appointments at organizations such as Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana, IndyHub, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Junior Achievement of Central Indiana, Horizon House, Dress for Success, The Parks Alliance, Indiana Sports Corporation, and the 500 Festival to name a few. We are proud of the many ways that our people support the community we serve.
AES Indiana reached the following project-to-date milestones of Smart Grid at the end of 2023:
Energy efficiency
In 2023
In 2023, AES Indiana’s Residential Energy Efficiency program reduced electricity usage equal to the following:
AES Indiana also offers energy efficiency programs, including products and services, to help eligible commercial, industrial and nonprofit customers save energy.
In 2023, commercial, industrial and nonprofit customers saved:
Learn more about “Ways to save for your business” here, including no-cost energy assessments and installation of efficient products for small business to large customer commercial and industrial projects.