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}}'''The AES Corporation''' is a publicly owned global power company that operates in 27 countries.<ref name="home">[http://www.aes.com/Aboutus/Home/ "Overview"], ''AES'', Accessed February 11, 2013.</ref> According to their website, AES' mission is "Improving lives by providing safe, reliable and sustainable energy solutions in every market AES serves."<ref name="home"></ref> Founded in 1981,<ref>[http://www.aes.com/Aboutus/History/ "History"], ''AES'', Accessed February 11, 2013.</ref> AESCorporation is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.<ref name="address">[http://aes.com/aes/index?page=contactus/ "Contact Us"], ''AES'' has interests , Accessed February 11, 2013.</ref>  In 2011, AES Corporation reported $17,274,000,000 in 123 power projects around total revenue.<ref>[http://investor.aes.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=76149&p=irol-reportsannual/ "Annual Financial Reports"], ''AES'', Accessed February 11, 2013.</ref> ==Ties to Pete Peterson's "Fix the Debt"== The [[Portal:Fix the Debt|Campaign to Fix the Debt]] is the latest incarnation of a decades-long effort by former Nixon man turned Wall Street billionaire [[Pete Peterson]] to slash earned benefit programs such as [[Social Security]] and [[Medicare]] under the guise of fixing the nation's "debt problem." This article is part of the Center for Media and Democracy's investigation of Pete Peterson's Campaign to "Fix the Debt." '''Please visit our main SourceWatch page on [[Portal:Fix the Debt|Fix the Debt]].''' {{about_FTD}}==Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council== AES subsidiary Indianapolis Power and Light was a "Vice Chair"-level sponsor of the world2016 ALEC Annual Conference.<ref>Nick Surgey, "[https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2016/07/27/exxonmobil-top-sponsor-alec-annual-meeting/ ExxonMobil Top Sponsor at ALEC Annual Meeting]," ''Exposed by CMD'', Center for Media and Democracy, July 27, 2016.</ref> See [[ALEC Corporations]] for more. {{about_ALEC}}

In 1999, AES purchased six power plants in New York (including the Somerset station) from NGE Generation, Inc. for $953 million.<ref name="aesny953">[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-54638215.html "AES completes acquistion of six power plants in New York with total capacity of 1424 MW",] Business Wire via High Beam Research, May 14, 1999.</ref> The other stations included in the deal were [[AES Westover Generation Plant|AES Westover]], [[AES Cayuga Generation Plant|AES Cayuga]], [[AES Greenidge Generation Plant|AES Greenidge]], [[AES Hickling Generation Plant|AES Hickling]], and [[AES Jennison Generation Plant|AES Jennison]], for a total of 1,424 megawatts of generating capacity.<ref name="aesny953"/> ===AES to sell its New York plants===On Feb. 28, 2011, AES president and CEO Paul Hanrahan announced that the company had decided to sell four of its coal-fired power plants in New York. The four coal-fired facilities, which have a combined generating capacity of 1,169-megawatts, are owned and operated by AES subsidiary AES Eastern Energy and are located in Somerset, Westover, Greenidge and Cayuga, New York. AES outlined in its fourth-quarter report that its subsidiary AES Eastern Energy recorded an impairment charge of $827 million, due primarily to a decline in power prices relative to rising coal costs in the North American market. Jeff Bodington, CEO of Bodington & CO, a power plant sales consultancy, has said that AES could earn $500-600 million for the plants based on comparable sales.<ref>[http://www.pennenergy.com/index/power/display/2384219633/articles/pennenergy/power/coal/2011/march/aes-to_sell_four_coal-fired.html "AES to sell four coal-fired power plants in New York"] PennEnergy, March 1, 2011.</ref> A Buffalo Business article attributed the sale to the combination of declining demand since the 2007 U.S. recession, the 90 percent rise in U.S. coal prices since 1998, implementation of the [[Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative]], and the declining price and rising use of [[natural gas]]. In 2010, Niagara County officials reduced AES tax payments by nearly 10 percent, reducing AES's tax obligation by $4.5 million through 2013. Still, AES executives, in the bankruptcy filing, said operating losses at the New York coal plants was $83 million in 2010.<ref>David Robinson, [http://www.buffalonews.com/business/business-columns/david-robinson/article710770.ece "Numbers tell the story of AES’ implosion"] Buffalo Business News, January 15, 2012.</ref>

On February 17, 2009, AES announced that it had withdrawn its air permit application for a new 650MW unit at its [[AES Shady Point II|Shady Point]] facility. Company spokesman Lindy Kiger explained the decision to cancel the project as "part of our broader strategy to re-evaluate our growth plans."<ref>Susan Hylton, [http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20090218_12_A11_PNMmah634105&archive=yes "Coal plant proposal abandoned," ] ''Tulsa World,'' February 18, 2009.</ref> ==Proposed plant retirements=====[[AES Thames Generation Plant]]===On February 1, 2011, [[AES Thames Generation Plant]] filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the state of Delaware, calling the shutdown temporary. AES Thames cited the increased cost of energy production and an "uneconomic and onerous" contract with [[Smurfit-Stone]]'s predecessor. Smurfit-Stone sought a temporary restraining order and injunction to prevent the closing, which were to be heard by the New London Superior Court on Feb. 2, but AES Thames filed for bankruptcy the day before. The plant ceased operating after the bankruptcy. In December 2011, Thames and was sold to a subsidiary of [[BTU Solutions]], based in Sugar Land, Texas. BTU plans to close and dismantle the plant, and lay off its workers by December 28, 2011.<ref>Janice Podsada, [http://articles.courant.com/2011-12-16/business/hc-montville-coal-plant-closing-20111214_1_biomass-plant-coal-plant-coal-fired-plant "NRG Biomass Plant Could Offset Impact of Montville Coal-Fired Power Plant's Closing,"] The Hartford Courant, December 16, 2011.</ref> ===[[AES Westover Generation Plant]]===In March 2011 the AES Westover retired its Unit 8 power station in March 2011. Additionally, AES announced it wanted to sell four of its New York coal plants, including Westover. The other plants included [[AES Cayuga Generation Plant|AES Cayuga]], [[AES Greenidge Generation Plant|AES Greenidge]] and [[AES Somerset Generation Plant|AES Somerset]]. <ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/04/utilities-aes-nycoal-idUSN0415329820110304 "AES to sell four New York coal plants"] Reuters, March, 4, 2011.</ref>

In August 2010 , a study released by the [[Environmental Integrity Project]], the [[Sierra Club]] and [[Earthjustice]], [http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/news_reports/documents/INHARMSWAY_FINAL3.pdf "In Harm's Way: Lack of Federal Coal Ash Regulations Endangers Americans and their Environment,"] reported that Connecticut, along with 34 states, had significant groundwater contamination from coal ash. The report, in an attempt to pressure the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate coal ash, noted that most states do not monitor drinking water contamination levels near waste disposal sites.<ref>[http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/26/1793995/study-of-coal-ash-sites-finds.html "Study of coal ash sites finds extensive water contamination"] Renee Schoff, ''Miami Herald'', August 26, 2010.</ref> The report mentioned Connecticut's [[AES Thames Generation Plant]] (Montville Power Station) was one site that has groundwater contamination due to coal ash waste.<ref>[http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9HRDN581.htm "Enviro groups: ND, SD coal ash polluting water"] Associated Press, August 24, 2010.</ref> The report identified 39 more coal combustion waste (CCW) disposal sites in 21 states that have contaminated groundwater or surface water with toxic metals and other pollutants, including Thames, based on monitoring data and other information available in state agency files. The report built on an earlier 2010 report by the Environmental Integrity Project and Earthjustice, [http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/news_reports/news_02_24_10.php "Out of Control: Mounting Damages from Coal Ash Waste Sites"], which documented similar damage at 31 coal combustion waste dumpsites in 14 states. When added to the 67 damage cases that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has already acknowledged, the total number of sites polluted by coal ash or coal scrubber sludge comes to at least 137 in 34 states.  [http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/news_reports/documents/INHARMSWAY_FINAL3.pdf "In Harm's Way: Lack of Federal Coal Ash Regulations Endangers Americans and their Environment"] found that the coal ash site for the [[AES Thames Generation Plant]] contained [[iron]] up to 1000 times the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL), and [[arsenic]] up to 26 times. Documents suggest there are over 300 wells within two miles of the plant.<ref>Jeff Stant, [http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/news_reports/documents/INHARMSWAY_FINAL3.pdf "In Harm's Way: Lack of Federal Coal Ash Regulations Endangers Americans and their Environment,"] EarthJustice, Environmental Integrity Project, and Sierra Club report, August 26, 2010.</ref>

{{#evpev:youtube|tUGy5_xN28A|400|left|Children affected by fly ash|right|210frame}}

A Making Money and Having Fun spokesperson denied that fly ash was toxic, stating, ""We have an outstanding environmental record over the past 20 years," AES spokesman Lundy Kiger told members of the media in a meeting at their Shady Point plant.<ref>[http://www.5newsonline.com/news/kfsm-aes-comes-out-swinging-in-resp-120810,0,1578727.story "AES Comes Out Swinging In Response To Bokoshe Residents"] Jared Boyles, 5newsonline.com, December 8, 2010.</ref>

==Foreign =High hazard coal ash dam===In November 2011, the EPA released a new set of [[coal waste]] data that revealed 181 “significant” hazard dams in 18 states - more than three times the 60 significant-hazard ponds listed in the original database released in 2009. In addition to the increase in the number of significant hazard-rated ponds, eight previously unrated coal ash ponds were found to be high hazard ponds in information released by the EPA earlier in 2011. Because of the switch in ratings after the EPA inspections, the total number of high hazard ponds has stayed roughly the same at a total of 47 ponds nationwide.<ref name=hp>Ken Ward Jr., [http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2011/10/31/epa-data-reveals-more-dangerous-coal-ash-ponds/ "EPA data reveals more dangerous coal ash ponds"] Coal Tattoo, Oct. 31, 2011.</ref> According to the National Inventory of Dams (NID) criteria, “high” hazard coal ash ponds are categorized as such because their failure will likely cause loss of human life. Six states that gained high hazard ponds include:<ref name=hp/>* Indiana: AES's [[Harding Street Station]], Indianapolis: 2 high hazard ponds ==International coal power plants==

* the 520 megawatt [[Kilroot Power Station]] in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland. AES has a 100% interest in the project;

AES has received criticism for its lack of investment in infrastructure, which has endangered public health and safety in Argentina. AES seems to have been reluctant to invest in the distribution networks, as such investments would not be economically viable in the company’s assessment. Argentina’s electricity regulator has fined AES for this lack of investment and even forced the company to invest in new electricity poles. AES has now pledged to invest in electricity sub-stations and the distribution network, but only after reaching an agreement with the Argentine government following the latter’s initiation of legal proceedings against the company.<ref>J. Wilde Ramsing and T. Steinweg, [http://somo.nl/publications-en/Publication_3088 ''Down to the Wire''], SOMO (Center for Research on Multinational Corporations), June 2009, page 107.</ref> (For further information see [[AES in Argentina]]).

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===References==={{reflist|2}} [[Category:Mining]][[Category:Climate change]][[Category:United States]][[Category:Real Economy Project]][[Category:Fix the Debt]][[Category:Fix the Debt Corporations]][[Category:Environment]][[Category:United Kingdom]][[Category:Power companies and agencies in the United States]]