The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio voted unanimously on Wednesday to approve a rate increase for residential customers.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — AEP Ohio customers will face higher electric bills starting April 1 after regulators approved a rate adjustment.
The average residential bill will rise by about $7.90 per month, though the exact increase will vary based on electricity usage.
The adjustment stems from a PUCO-approved rider that allows utilities to recover certain transmission-related costs. While long-term planning discussions consider broader demand trends, including growth from large energy users like data centers, filings with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio typically rely on specific cost-recovery mechanisms rather than general market forces.
Regulatory filings show that one portion of the rate will increase by around 0.79 cents per kilowatt-hour, climbing from about 3.6 cents to 4.3 cents. This reflects only part of the total electricity cost customers pay.
Commercial and industrial customers will also experience higher costs under the revised rates.
The increase comes as AEP Ohio and the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association continue to dispute how the utility forecasts future electricity demand.
“AEP utilities have generally relied on their own data center rate plan to inflate future power demand, increasing forecasts by about 40% per data center. Our review shows that AEP utilities may have counted data center projects multiple times. Additionally, their forecasts appear to overlook behind-the-meter power generation that the capacity market will not need to supply. It’s not just data centers either—AEP utilities have also overestimated small business demand at times,” said Ryan Augsburger, president of the OMA.
AEP Ohio disputes those claims, stating that its forecasting methods follow established practices and have not been challenged by PUCO staff. The company also defends its data center-specific tariff, arguing it shields other customers from covering the cost of new infrastructure required for large-scale energy users.
“AEP Ohio has used the same approach since the Basic Transmission Cost Rider began more than 10 years ago. In this case, the PUCO staff report relies on a forecast based on a three-year trend analysis. Nothing in the report suggests any challenge to our load forecast, as OMA claims. OMA members should question why their organization is opposing AEP Ohio’s Data Center Tariff, which protects manufacturers across Ohio from paying millions in transmission infrastructure costs tied to data center expansion,” the company said.
OMA has appealed PUCO’s approval of the tariff to the Ohio Supreme Court, arguing that it creates unfair pricing for manufacturers.
In a statement to 10TV, AEP Ohio said in part:
“While PUCO staff made several recommendations, only one affects the rates taking effect with the first billing cycle of April 2026, and it applies only to non-residential customers.
“Importantly, PUCO staff did not recommend disallowing any prudently incurred costs by AEP Ohio. Instead, they proposed a modification to the rate design, not a change in how costs are allocated among residential, commercial, and industrial customers. This marks a shift from how BTCR rates have been structured since 2015.
“To avoid confusion, it is important to note that the PUCO staff recommendation does not affect residential customers. However, residential customers will still see an increase starting with the April billing cycle due to the routine annual update to transmission rates under the FERC- and PUCO-approved formula.”
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