Proposed rate increase by AEP could impact over 1 million Ohio residents

Описание: A proposed rate increase by American Electric Power Ohio (AEP) could impact over a million Ohio residents, raising the company's revenue by 41%.

This would translate to an average $4 monthly increase for consumers, or 2.14%, following a rate hike earlier this year.


The Ohio Consumer Counsel has expressed concerns, with J.P. Blackwood stating, "I don't have an extra $50 sitting around... especially there's a lot of consumers who are struggling."

Public hearings are being held to gather consumer opinions, with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) and the Ohio Consumer Counsel urging attendance.

Blackwood emphasized the importance of participation, saying, "What message does it give when no consumers show up to a public hearing about increasing their rates?"

"All of this is still up in the air." Matt Schilling said with the PUCO. "The five commissioners at the PUCO make the ultimate decision, but we're very much interested in customers' opinions and viewpoints, which is the purpose of the public hearings."

AEP Ohio released the following statement regarding the price increase:

"AEP Ohio customers’ bills are made up of three parts: generation, transmission and distribution. Ohioans are seeing increased energy costs for two primary reasons: generation costs and transmission costs. Generation costs are those that cover electricity generation to meet a person’s energy needs — the power plants, wind farms and other generation sources that provide electricity to the system. Transmission costs are the costs of building and maintaining high-voltage lines that move energy over large distances, from generation sources to communities. Simply put, there is not enough electricity being generated in Ohio to meet our state’s electricity needs, creating an imbalance in the supply of energy and the demand for it. That imbalance is now forcing Ohio to import electricity from other states through high-voltage transmission lines. As generation supply has decreased, both generation and transmission costs have increased. AEP Ohio shares our customers’ concerns about the imbalance between the supply of energy and demand for it, and we are frustrated, too. In Ohio, utilities like AEP Ohio are legally prohibited from building new generation sources. We sincerely hope the market will respond soon with additional generation sources in Ohio to help alleviate this burden for our customers."