Data centers donate to AEP Ohio bills fund. How far will it stretch?
Five major data center owners are contributing $17 million to AEP Ohio's Neighbor to Neighbor program over the next five years to help low-income customers with electricity bills. This initiative comes amid a growing political debate in Ohio regarding data center energy consumption and its impact, with candidates proposing regulatory changes and a potential moratorium on new construction.
Five major data center owners are collectively contributing $17 million to American Electric Power (AEP) Ohio's Neighbor to Neighbor bill assistance program over the next five years. This fund provides one-time grants of up to $500 to eligible low-income residential consumers with outstanding AEP Ohio bills, a program currently relevant to over 200,000 households statewide. Meta is the largest contributor with $10 million over five years, followed by QTS with $3 million over three years, and one-time 2026 donations from Amazon ($2.5 million), SoftBank ($1 million), and Google ($500,000). AEP Ohio itself is contributing an additional $1 million.
Julia Ivinskas, director of customer experience for AEP Ohio, emphasized that the data centers are integral to the communities served by the program. However, Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Maureen Willis noted that while the effort is