What’s Changing On Electric Bills Beginning in April

We know there’s been a lot of chatter about changes to your electric bill. This is happening because of a few separate things going on with utility bill rates. As electric costs change, AEP Ohio’s priority remains being transparent with our customers while keeping bills fair, predictable and easy to understand.

We’re working hard to push for changes in this process so things are clearer for you and everyone else we serve. Ultimately, the impact to your electric bill each month continues to depend heavily on how much electricity you use and where you get your electric generation supply from.

What Goes Into Your Bill
Generation, transmission and distribution are the three primary components of an electric bill. AEP Ohio is a distribution utility, but a customer’s AEP Ohio bill includes all three parts. With approval from state regulators, all three components change regularly because of the way Ohio’s electric regulations are structured.

• Generation charges include the cost to generate electricity — power plants, solar farms, etc.
• Transmission charges cover the costs of the high-voltage lines that move electricity from generation sources to communities.
• Distribution charges cover the local poles and wires in communities.

Ohioans can choose to receive their generation supply from a Competitive Retail Electric Service (CRES) provider or remain on AEP Ohio’s Standard Service Offer (SSO) rate, where generation charges are passed through, dollar for dollar, with no markup.

As of March 23, our records indicate that you receive the generation portion of your bill from a CRES provider or live in a community that uses a CRES provider through governmental aggregation. Any changes to this part of your bill are not related to AEP Ohio.

Transmission and Distribution Rate Changes
All residential customers will experience an increase beginning with the April billing cycle due to the standard annual update to transmission rates under the FERC- and PUCO-approved formula. Beginning in April, the average residential AEP Ohio customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) a month will see the following changes, regardless of whether they shop for their generation supply or are on the SSO rate:

• Transmission costs increasing by about $7.90.
• Distribution costs decreasing by about $0.52.

The net impact is an increase of approximately $7.38 per month for the average AEP Ohio customer using a CRES provider. It’s important to note that this increase is separate from any rate changes from your CRES provider, which AEP Ohio has no control over, that may cause your bill to increase or decrease by a different amount.  

Additionally, these changes are separate from AEP Ohio’s base distribution rate case under review by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). That case proposes an initial overall decrease of $1.22 per month for the distribution portion of AEP Ohio customers’ bills.

Investing in the Grid
AEP Ohio continues to invest in new and modernized transmission infrastructure to ensure the reliability and resilience of the electric grid. Many existing high-voltage transmission facilities were built decades ago and require investments to stay in service. These investments are critical to:

• Strengthening system reliability.
• Reducing the risk of outages.
• Protecting the grid.
• Supporting economic growth.

You Can Shop for Generation
Customers can visit EnergyChoice.Ohio.gov to compare CRES providers and their rates to AEP Ohio’s SSO rate.

We encourage you to take advantage of our bill assistance tool by completing a quick, 2-minute survey to see which programs you qualify for — there are options available for everyone.