File No. __________________




                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                                Washington, D.C.

                                    FORM U-57

                 NOTIFICATION OF FOREIGN UTILITY COMPANY STATUS

                        Filed under section 33(a) of the

             Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, as amended

                           NATIONAL POWER DRAX LIMITED
                        (Name of foreign utility company)

                               THE AES CORPORATION
                               1001 N. 19th Street
                                   Suite 2000
                            Arlington, Virginia 22209
     (Name of filing company, if filed on behalf of foreign utility company)




      The Commission is requested to mail copies of all correspondence relating
to this Notification to:

         William R. Luraschi, Esq.
         The AES Corporation
         1001 N. 19th Street
         Suite 2000
         Arlington, Virginia  22209





         Lynn N. Hargis, Esq.
         Chadbourne & Parke LLP
         1200 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W.
         Suite 300
         Washington, D.C.  20036

ITEM 1

      Foreign utility status is claimed by National Power Drax Limited ("NPD"),
a company incorporated under the laws of England and Wales. The business address
of NPD is Drax Power Station, Selby, North Yorkshire, Y08 8PQ, England.

      NPD owns and operates a 4,000 MW coal fired electricity generating power
plant located near Selby in North Yorkshire, England. The Company sells all its
output into the Electricity Pool for England and Wales.

      The AES Corporation owns 100% of NPD through wholly owned subsidiaries.
The AES Corporation is a Delaware corporation.

ITEM 2

      CILCO is a domestic associate of NPD through The AES Corporation's
acquisition of CILCO, which was consummated October 18, 1999. The Commission
issued an order on August 20, 1999, granting The AES Corporation a Section
3(a)(5) exemption from PUHCA if and when it indirectly acquired CILCO, a
domestic public utility company.





                                      -2-





      The state commission certification from the Illinois Commerce Commission
required under Section 33(a)(2) of the Act in connection with this transaction
is attached.

                                    Signature

      The undersigned company has duly caused this statement to be signed on its
behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.



By: /s/ William R. Luraschi
    -----------------------
William R. Luraschi
General Counsel
The AES Corporation
1001 N. 19th Street
Suite 2000
Arlington, Virginia  22209
(703) 522-1315



Dated:  November 23, 1999





                                      -3-

                                State of Illinois
                          Illinois Commerce Commission

                       [Letterhead of Richard L. Mathias]


                                            March 10, 1999

Securities and Exchange Commission
450 Fifth Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C.  20549

Ladies and Gentlemen:

         We are writing to you with respect to Central Illinois Light Company
("CILCO") and its parent, CILCORP Inc., and the pending merger transaction
involving CILCORP Inc. and The AES Corporation.

         We have been advised that The AES Corporation, through its subsidiaries
(other than CILCORP Inc. or subsidiaries of CILCORP Inc.), affiliates, or
through other entities, currently holds, and intends to continue to hold and
acquire, ownership interest in electric and natural gas facilities in one or
more foreign countries. We submit this letter pursuant to the requirements of
Section 33(a)(2) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, as amended
(the "Act").

         A 1997 Illinois law implemented changes to historical utility
regulation. The law required all regulated electric utilities to reduce their
rates to residential consumers in 1998 and, subject to certain specified
exceptions, froze such electric rates until 2005. While neither the utilities
nor the Illinois Commerce Commission ("Commission") can change bundled electric
rates until 2005, the Commission retains jurisdiction to set rates for unbundled
delivery service. In addition, electric utilities are subject to other statutory
provisions that require a sharing of revenue with consumers if the utility earns
more than certain specified thresholds. However, the restructuring legislation
gave electric utilities great flexibility in writing down assets and
accelerating depreciation, so utilities may be able to avoid triggering the
over-earning threshold. Also the legislation removed Commission authority over
the sale, lease or other transfer of assets to affiliated or unaffiliated
entities until January 1, 2005. Also, the Commission has jurisdiction over
electric and gas delivery system reliability. However, the Commission cannot
order a utility to construct additional generation. Finally, while the
Commission's authority to approve or disapprove some merger and reorganization
transactions has been suspended




until 2005, regulated utilities are required to provide the Commission with a
30-day advanced notice of any proposed transaction, with supporting
documentation, and to file certain reports thereafter.

         The Illinois Commerce Commission hereby certifies to you that we have
the authority and resources to protect Illinois consumers in accordance with the
Illinois statutes discussed in the previous paragraph. We intend to exercise
such authority.

                                            Sincerely,
                                            Illinois Commerce Commission

                                            /s/Richard L. Mathias
                                            Richard L. Mathias
                                            Chairman

cc:      Mr. Edward J. Griffin, DeFrees & Fiske
         Mr. Robert W. Wason, Security and Exchange Commission