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







                        Empresa Electrica Guacolda S.A.







                                       by





                              THE AES CORPORATION







                            1001 North 19th Street
                             Arlington, VA 22209


     The AES Corporation ("AES"), a Delaware corporation and a public utility
holding company exempt from registration under Section 3(a)(5) of the Public
Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, as amended (the "Act"), hereby files with
the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission") pursuant to Section
33 of the Act, this Form U-57 for the purpose of notifying the Commission that
Empresa Electrica Guacolda S.A. ("Guacolda") is a "foreign utility company"
("FUCO") within the meaning of Section 33 of the Act.


     Guacolda does not derive and will not derive any part of its income,
directly or indirectly, from the generation, transmission or distribution of
electric energy for sale, or the distribution at retail of natural or
manufactured gas for heat, light or power, within the United States. Neither
Guacolda nor any of its subsidiary companies is or will be a public utility
operating within the United States.


ITEM 1


Name and Business Address:


Empresa Electrica Guacolda S.A.
Miraflores 222, 16th Floor
Santiago
Chile


Description of Facilities:


     Guacolda owns and operates a coal fired thermoelectric plant containing
two coal fired generating units each with a 152 megawatts capacity located in
Huasco, Chile. The plant also has a substation facility, a double circuit
transmission line to Maitencillo and from there to Cardones, Chile and other
energy-related facilities.


Ownership:


     Gener S.A. owns 50% of Guacolda. AES owns, through Gener S.A.,
approximately 30% of Guacolda. AES at this time is unable to identify
definitively any other person who owns 5% or more of any securities of
Guacolda. AES intends to supplement this filing as soon as practically possible
to identify such persons, if any.


ITEM 2


     The domestic associate public utility company of Guacolda is Central
Illinois Light Company, an Illinois corporation ("CILCO"). CILCO is an
indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of AES.


     CILCO has made no investment in, nor has any contractual relationship
with, Guacolda, nor is any such investment or contractual relationship
contemplated.


     The certification of the Illinois Commerce Commission, as required under
Section 33(a)(2) of the Act, is attached hereto as Exhibit A.


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


   William R. Luraschi
   The AES Corporation
   1001 North 19th Street
   Arlington, VA 22209

   William C. Weeden
   Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
   1440 New York Ave. NW
   Washington, D.C. 20005


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


                                          THE AES CORPORATION


                                      By: /s/ Paul T. Hanrahan
                                          -------------------------------------
                                          Name: Paul T. Hanrahan
                                          Title: Senior Vice President


Date: December 28, 2000

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                                   Exhibit A


                   [Illinois Commerce Commission Letterhead]


                                                                 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 revenues 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

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