Ohio’s population and economy are on the rise, and a lot of people are asking how the power grid will handle the increased electric demand that comes with growth. AEP Ohio is working to make sure the power distribution system is ready and that new customers don’t come at the expense of the people already here.
A couple of Columbus television reporters recently joined AEP Ohio for a never-before-seen look into how the utility is ensuring responsible growth and reliable service. Here’s some additional information that customers should know.
“Ohio is popular for businesses looking to relocate from other states and many existing businesses are expanding locally. We’re also becoming a hub for data centers,” said Zach Miller, AEP Ohio’s director of economic development and data center integration. “There are clear reasons why companies are choosing Ohio. We’re centrally located, making it easier to serve customers nationwide. Costs — including for land and energy — are lower than in many coastal markets. And the state already has strong infrastructure to support growth.”
That’s good for jobs and the economy. It also means more demand for power.
AEP Ohio planned ahead
Long before data centers entered the headlines, AEP Ohio anticipated what was coming and acted.
The company filed the Data Center Tariff with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) — a first-of-its-kind regulatory approach designed to protect the 1.5 million homes and small businesses AEP Ohio serves across 61 counties. It ensures data centers are responsible for the cost of delivering them energy, instead of shifting that burden onto other residential, commercial and industrial customers.
State leaders backed that effort with the PUCO approving the tariff last summer. The Data Center Tariff is working. That’s why the Ohio legislature is evaluating similar proposals statewide and other utilities and regulators across the country are filing their own proposals.
What does this mean for me?
Even with those protections in place, demand for electricity is rising fast, faster than supply.
Ohio’s electric utilities are deregulated, which means AEP Ohio is prevented from generating electricity. Instead, the company delivers power safely and reliably. The supply comes from a competitive market that’s now facing record demand.
“PJM Interconnection, the organization that manages the electric grid across 13 states and the District of Columbia, doubled its forecast for demand growth,” Zach said. “By 2029, demand is expected to increase by about 10 gigawatts — almost twice what New York City uses on a typical day.”
With the right guardrails in place, like AEP Ohio’s data center tariff, large-load projects like data centers can benefit the grid and keep electricity affordable in the long term.
What AEP Ohio is doing right now
While larger market forces play out, AEP Ohio is focused on what it can control: keeping your power on and improving reliability.
That’s why AEP Ohio’s Center for Customer Reliability uses innovative tools like aerial drones and real-time monitoring to spot problems early — often before customers notice any issue at all.
With the goal of preventing power outages and shortening them when they do happen, in 2025, AEP Ohio teams:
- Replaced more than 22,000 poles
- Trimmed over 8,500 miles of trees — roughly 25% of AEP Ohio’s entire system
- Upgraded thousands of miles of power lines
- Installed nearly 19,000 devices to prevent animal-related outages
“While our crews work year-round to maintain the electric grid, we doubled down on the areas experiencing the most significant challenges. These efforts helped prevent more than 18 million minutes of potential outages and reduced outage times for customers. Technology is also helping reroute power automatically when problems happen,” said Don Chesler, director of distribution operations.
So far this year, about 17,500 customers avoided outages thanks to those reliability initiatives.
The bottom line
Our state is growing quickly, and energy demand is rising with it. But AEP Ohio has put protections in place to keep costs fair and continues to invest in a stronger, more reliable grid. That means fewer outages, faster response times and a system ready for many tomorrows — without putting unnecessary costs on customers.
Ohio’s growth brings new opportunities, and AEP Ohio is powering this bright future. By planning ahead, pushing for smart policies and investing in reliability, the company is focused on one thing: delivering safe, dependable power while looking out for its customers.
