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An Indianapolis couple’s insurance company is seeking to recover more than $250,000 in property damages in a lawsuit that accuses AES Indiana of failing to maintain an electrical utility line, causing the couple’s home to go up in smoke.
Homesite Insurance Co., on behalf of Christina and Paul Andrews, filed its lawsuit against Indianapolis Power & Light Co., or AES Indiana, in the Marion County Circuit Court on Monday, accusing the company of negligence.
An AES spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions from The Indiana Lawyer about the lawsuit.
According to the complaint, the Andrews live near West 79th Street on the north side of Indianapolis. The couple’s residence received its power from a nearby AES-operated electrical utility line.
On Sept. 16, 2024, naturally encroaching vegetation compromised the utility line, resulting in an electrical surge, the complaint says. The surge produced an overload in the Andrews’ home, which ignited a fire in the attic space.
The Pike Township Fire Department responded and performed various suppression efforts, including removing parts of the ceiling and wetting hot spots, according to an incident report submitted along with the complaint.
While working to suppress the fire, the complaint states firefighters discovered a live, smoldering wire running the length of the house. The fire department then contacted AES but the utility’s response was “delayed,” according to the report.
According to one fire department official’s narrative of the incident, the department was “unable to get AES to the scene after two requests.”
After some time, AES disconnected the meter remotely, but power was still running to the utility line. So AES dispatched a representative to the scene to address the live wire.
The representative pulled the electrical meter, which was connected to the residence, and checked for live wires. According to the lawsuit, the representative told fire department personnel that the residence had been de-energized. But when the fire department personnel touched a gas line in the residence, they were shocked again.
A second AES representative arrived at the scene and discovered that a nearby transformer had blown and was “somehow back feeding the house,” according to the incident report. After the representative disconnected the back-feeding transformer, the fire department completely extinguished the fire.
After the incident, the Andrews submitted a claim to Homesite Insurance, the filer of the lawsuit. The company paid $252,427.88 in damages.
The company and the Andrews now say that AES owed a duty of reasonable care in the operation, inspection and maintenance of the electric utility line and transformer.
The plaintiffs also suggest that AES failed to comply with all applicable industry standards and safety codes for operating and repairing the electrical line and transformer, and that the company failed to respond in an adequate manner to emergency calls.
The case is Homesite Insurance Company a/s/o Christina and Paul Andrews v. Indianapolis Power & Light Company d/b/a AES Indiana, 49C01-2606-CT-034050.
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