AEP Ohio

Columbus Stand Up, Common Cause Ohio and other groups are opposing a revenue increase for central Ohio's largest utility company.

Columbus City Council will meet virtually on Monday, Jan. 26, following a record-setting snowfall over the weekend. Zoning and utility rate hikes are on the agenda.

AEP says the proposed decrease would drop bills by a little more than $1 a month for average customers. AEP is using money it already owes customers from two years ago when consumers overpaid deferred income taxes by $82 million.

Two school board leaders spoke in opposition to the proposed distribution rate increase at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio public hearing on Tuesday, Dec. 9.

Columbus Stand Up has been building its ranks in local politics and is now organizing opposition to a utility rate increase by AEP Ohio.

Several public hearings are ongoing as the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio considers AEP Ohio's proposal. The plan would increase an average customer's costs by $4 a month and give the utility company $400 million in extra annual revenue.

AEP Ohio and a Meta affiliate are asking the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to approve the arrangement. Meta wants the substation to supply power to a data center.

The Data Center Coalition, a national organization representing data centers, is not happy with a decision state utility regulators made this week allowing AEP Ohio to charge that industry for power differently than other rate payers.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio gave AEP Ohio permission to charge data centers under different rules and rates than other utility customers. The utility will end it's moratorium on bringing new data centers online.

The demand for electricity is higher than its been since 2011 on the PJM grid. Utilities like AEP Ohio are asking consumers to limit their use of electricity.