Indiana’s state treasurer says federal regulators should block AES buyout

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — State Treasurer Daniel Elliott said regulators should stop an acquisition of AES Indiana unless there are firm assurances costs won’t get passed on to ratepayers.

A consortium led by the investment firm Blackrock plans to buy AES Indiana, one of the state’s five investor-owned utilities, for $33 billion. In an interview with News 8 for Sunday’s “All INdiana Politics,” Elliott, a Republican, said he has serious concerns about the investment decisions each of the consortium’s members have made. Besides Blackrock, the buyers include the Swedish firm EQT and two underwriters: the Qatar Investment Authority and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, or CalPERS.

Elliott removed Blackrock from Indiana’s public pension investment system in 2024 over decisions related to environmental and social factors in investing. So-called environmental, social and governance investing, or ESG, is a frequent target of Republican critics. Elliott said he believes Blackrock and EQT continue to engage in such investing. He said financial problems at CalPERS also are cause for concern. Additionally, he said he believes the Qatar Investment Authority provides financial support to terrorist organizations such as Hamas. Elliott said he fears those firms might pass their costs along to ratepayers.

“You start to look at that, and you’re like, wait a minute, this is a concern, especially wh...