Release: The City of Indianapolis Provides Public Comments for AES Indiana's 2022 Integrated Resource Plan

Led by the Office of Sustainability, this is the second cycle in which the City has provided this feedback to AES Indiana.

INDIANAPOLIS—The City of Indianapolis Office of Sustainability today provided AES Indiana with a letter including comments on their Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). This plan, which is submitted to the Indiana Utilities Regulatory Commission every three years, represents a critical opportunity for AES Indiana and the City to further coordinate to ensure Indianapolis and its residents have equitable access to clean, affordable, and reliable energy.
 
“AES Indiana has been an essential partner both in the development and implementation of Thrive Indianapolis,” said Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett. “We look forward to continuing to work together to address the goals and priorities of both parties.”
 
The City offered recommendations that closely align with the Office of Sustainability’s goals as outlined in its Thrive Indianapolis (“Thrive”) plan. The City:

  • Strongly supports AES Indiana’s use of “all-source” procurement for future capacity additions to ensure cost-effective, market-driven innovation;

  • Seeks a resource mix with renewable energy generation capacity that aligns with the goals of the City and the community. Therefore, it is recommended that AES Indiana’s 2022 IRP includes models across multiple scenarios to evaluate pathways for an affordable, clean energy future;

  • Encourages AES Indiana to expand offerings of and access to energy efficiency programs targeting those with the highest energy burden;

  • Encourages AES Indiana to support a just transition for each Indiana community;

  • Requests that AES Indiana make energy performance and aggregated whole-building data available to customers.

 “This collaborative effort between the City and AES Indiana further demonstrates our city's commitment to a sustainable future," said Morgan Mickelson, director of the Indianapolis Office of Sustainability. "Our entire community benefits when experts take a modern, holistic, data-driven approach to establish change that will guide us toward achieving our goal of carbon neutrality by 2050."
 
The Office of Sustainability previously provided comments on the most recent Integrated Resource Plan, submitted by AES Indiana in 2019. AES Indiana submits an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) every three years. The plan is created with stakeholder input to indicate a 20-year forecast of how AES Indiana may provide reliable electricity to its customers based upon multiple scenarios and risk analysis.
 
About Thrive Indianapolis:
Created and managed by the Indianapolis Office of Sustainability, the Thrive Indianapolis plan is the first citywide sustainability and resilience strategy to help the City plan for the opportunities and challenges that the future is sure to bring. It is organized around four core values which represent the City’s priorities and are metrics used to ensure the plan truly meets the community’s need:

  • Capacity Building: Helping residents build prosperous, interdependent neighborhoods

  • Equitable Services: Delivering high quality public services to all

  • Poverty Reduction: Creating pathways to prosperity for all community members

  • Fiscal Responsibility: Managing public resources to meet the present and future needs of the Indianapolis community.

In addition, Thrive Indianapolis encompasses eight community-centric elements, which include 16 objectives and 59 actions – all of which help us address our long-term sustainability and resilience goals. For more information, visit thriveindianapolis.com

Lindsay Trameri