AES Corporation
Utilities
48
out of 100. Number 226 of 512, counting from the worst.
Where AES Corporation does well
- Renewals 0 of 20. Nothing found.
- Data retention 3 of 15. Few problems found.
- No auto-renew or subscription cancellation traps found anywhere in the public documents (category scores 0, honestly).
- Privacy policy publishes concrete retention caps — marketing data max 2 years after last contact, contract/litigation data 5 years, tax data 10 years — plus deletion on request.
- You can opt out of direct marketing at any time, and AES pledges not to discriminate against Californians who exercise their privacy rights.
- The site does not engage in automated decision-making or profiling with legal effects, and it honors do-not-track only in the sense of... it explicitly says it doesn't respond to DNT signals — however, the policy is transparent about that.
- Arbitration clause includes genuine carve-outs: a 30-day written right to reject changes to the arbitration provision, AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules, and explicit severability where jurisdictions (e.g., Quebec, New Jersey) prohibit class-action waivers.
- The Africa regional policy states flatly 'AES will not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to any third party' (regional entity, but suggestive of company posture).
- As a B2B company, collection is limited to business-contact data rather than consumer profiling, and AES Indiana publishes scam warnings protecting its own utility customers.
Simply visiting AES's website binds you to binding arbitration instead of court.
The fine print
6 clauses and findings from the draft archive, dated 1 October 2026. The plain English comes first; the small print is the company's own words. None of these has been checked yet.
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Simply visiting AES's website binds you to binding arbitration instead of court. You lose the right to a jury trial and can never join a class-action lawsuit against AES.
THESE TERMS CONTAIN WARRANTY DISCLAIMERS, LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY, AND ARBITRATION PROVISIONS, INCLUDING YOUR AGREEMENT TO RESOLVE DISPUTES ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO THE SITE, THE CONTENT, THESE TERMS, OR THE PRIVACY & COOKIES POLICY, THROUGH BINDING ARBITRATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS... YOU ARE GIVING UP CERTAIN RIGHTS, SUCH AS THE RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL AND THE RIGHT TO SUE AES IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT.
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Even a small claim gets a three-arbitrator panel (expensive by design), held in Virginia no matter where you live, with a confidentiality gag so you can't warn others about the outcome — and if AES convinces the arbitrators your claim was 'frivolous,' you pay their fees.
The dispute shall be heard by three (3) neutral arbitrators... You agree that arbitration shall take place exclusively in Arlington County, Virginia... The arbitration and information disclosed during arbitration may not be disclosed to any third party except as required by law... Each party shall pay their own expenses and fees, including their own attorneys' fees, arising from arbitration, unless the arbitrator determines that your claims were improper or frivolous, in which case the arbitrator may require you to reimburse us for certain fees and expenses in accordance with the Rules.
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AES can raise any price or rate listed on its site whenever it wants, with no advance notice to you — though regulated utility rates are still subject to state utility commission approval in practice.
The prices and availability of programs, products, services, and rates mentioned on or made available through the Site are subject to availability... AES may change the prices, programs, products, services, and rates at any time without notice to you.
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AES admits it 'sells' (under California law's broad definition) your identity details, purchase/usage history, and browsing activity to third parties for marketing and analytics. An opt-out exists, but the default is shared.
We may share the following categories of your CA Personal Information with third party partners and in a manner that constitutes a 'sale' under California law: Identifiers; Commercial information; Professional or employment-related information; and Internet or other electronic network activity... This information may be shared for the following purposes: marketing, analytics, or service performance measurements.
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You agree to pay AES's legal bills if anything goes wrong — including from your ordinary use of the site — while AES reserves the right to run the defense on your dime.
YOU WILL INDEMNIFY, DEFEND (AT AES' REQUEST), AND HOLD HARMLESS THE AES PARTIES FROM AND AGAINST ALL LOSSES, CLAIMS... AND COSTS (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION COURT COSTS AND REASONABLE ATTORNEYS' FEES) THAT ARISE OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH: (A) YOUR ACCESS TO, USE OF, OR MISUSE OF THE SITE... WE RESERVE, AND YOU GRANT TO US, THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO ASSUME THE DEFENSE AND CONTROL OF ANY MATTER SUBJECT TO INDEMNIFICATION BY YOU.
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If AES wrongs you, you have only one year to act or your claim dies forever — and even if you win, the most you can recover is $100.
EXCEPT AS PROHIBITED BY THE APPLICABLE LAWS OF YOUR PLACE OF RESIDENCE, ANY CAUSE OF ACTION YOU MAY HAVE WITH RESPECT TO THIS SITE, ITS CONTENT, THESE TERMS OR THE PRIVACY & COOKIES POLICY, AND ANY PRODUCTS OR SERVICES MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE MUST BE COMMENCED WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE CLAIM OR CAUSE OF ACTION ARISES; OTHERWISE, SUCH CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM IS PERMANENTLY BARRED. ... IN NO EVENT SHALL THE TOTAL LIABILITY OF THE AES PARTIES... EXCEED ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100).
How these were found
Terms of Use and Privacy & Cookies Policy both 'Effective Date / Last Revised: January 01, 2023' — current versions but 3+ years old. Read live Oct 1, 2026 via browser_open at aesindiana.com (the Indiana 'Product Variant' of AES Corporation's canonical corporate terms; byte-identical arbitration text also found on aes-vietnam.com, aespuertorico.com, aes-elsalvador.com, aespanama.com). aes.com/legal and aes.com/privacy-policy were not directly fetchable in this session, so the aesindiana.com variant was used as the source of the corporate documents. AES is a B2B energy company plus regulated retail utilities (AES Indiana, AES Ohio); regulated utility tariff/service terms (set by state utility commissions) were not reviewed. No auto-renew subscription product exists on the site, so that category is unscored-at-zero rather than hidden. aes-africa.com's separate South African policy ('AES will not sell, rent, or trade your personal information') was NOT relied on since it is a different regional entity under POPIA.
These notes come from the original draft and are not independent verification.