AEP Ohio customers to face higher electric bills starting April 1 amid rate adjustment approval

AEP Ohio customers will experience higher electric bills beginning April 1, following a unanimous vote by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to approve a rate adjustment. Residential customers are expected to see an average increase of $7.90 per month, though commercial and industrial customers will also face higher costs. This adjustment recovers transmission-related expenses and factors in long-term planning discussions, which include growing demand from large energy users such as data centers. A central point of contention involves the utility's forecasting methods. The Ohio Manufacturers' Association (OMA), led by President Ryan Augsburger, disputes AEP Ohio's predictions, claiming the utility has inflated future power demand by approximately 40% per data center and may have double-counted projects. OMA further alleges AEP utility forecasts fail to account for behind-the-meter power generation. AEP Ohio, however, defends its forecasting practices, asserting they are consistent with past methods and have not been challenged by PUCO staff. The company also supports its data center-specific tariff, which it argues safeguards manufacturers across Ohio from having to bear millions of dollars in costs for new transmission infrastructure needed to serve data centers. The dispute has escalated, with OMA appealing PUCO's approval of the data center tariff to the Ohio Supreme Court, contending it results in unfair pricing for manufacturers. While PUCO staff made some recommendations for non-residential customers, they did not recommend disallowing any prudently incurred costs by AEP Ohio.