$84 million to be refunded through credit

GAHANNA — AEP customers may see their electric bill is a little lower this month.

The reduction comes after AEP Ohio and the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, the state’s residential utility consumer advocate, announced that $84 million will be refunded to AEP Ohio’s customers through a credit on their June 2017 electric bills.

The refund to customers was agreed to as part of a major settlement that AEP Ohio, the Consumers’ Counsel and several other parties negotiated in December 2016. The settlement resolved rate issues in lawsuits and legal challenges in 14 cases.

A one-time bill credit will be issued to those AEP Ohio customers who purchased their generation service from AEP Ohio through its Standard Service Offer any time from August 2012 through May 2015.

Credit amounts are based on a customer’s electricity usage under the Standard Service Offer during this period. An average residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month during this time will see an approximate $60 credit. All AEP Ohio customers, former and current, are eligible to receive this credit.

Customers will not receive a bill credit for any purchases of generation service that they made from an energy marketer during this time period.

“AEP Ohio strives to provide safe and reliable electric service to our customers,” said
Julie Sloat, AEP Ohio president and chief operating officer. “Thanks to the advocacy and combined efforts of the Consumers’ Counsel and others involved in the Global Settlement, we were able to reach an agreement that allows us to focus on providing an enhanced customer experience through new technologies, building a smarter grid and improving reliability.”

“Many consumers purchase their electric service from AEP Ohio’s ‘standard service offer’ where they receive the benefit of low market prices on their monthly electric bills,” said Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Bruce Weston.“I am pleased that we and AEP Ohio settled our differences about electricity charges, so that these consumers could receive a refund.”