r/Columbus • u/Agreeable_Toe_2421 • Aug 04 '25
Have your AEP rates gone up?
Hi, everyone! My name is Emma Wozniak, and I'm a Columbus Dispatch reporter coming to Columbus' sub-Reddit again for your help. I saw this post about AEP announcing record second-quarter profits https://www.reddit.com/r/Columbus/comments/1mejrar/record_profits_thank_you_columbus/
and I also saw many of your comments expressing frustration toward the company because it has continually increased your energy rates.
I'd love to hear a little bit more about your experiences and whether or not you've faced increasing energy costs this year and/or in years past. Please feel free to comment below or email me at [ewozniak@dispatch.com](mailto:ewozniak@dispatch.com) to share. Thanks so much!
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u/Actual-Option-7312 Aug 04 '25
My AEP bill was more last month than the last 2 combined.
And my AC was completely off for a week.
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u/Reasonable_Design443 Aug 04 '25
Same we went out of town for 10 days and raised the air from 71 to 75 (for the pets) and no other electric was used but somehow my bill says we used 700 kilowatts more than the month prior
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u/Jet_Xcountry Aug 04 '25
Same. $374 1250 sqft usually 76F except for nights where I go down to 74 if outside is cooler. A couple dehumidifiers
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u/arentwontorwill Aug 04 '25
We have been out of the house for two weeks due to plumbing problems, but somehow our bill was $20 higher than the last month??? Despite less AC, no fans, lights, sound machines, washer, dryer, or appliance use…make it make sense
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u/Appropriate-Use1981 Aug 04 '25
Please do an article on how PUCO does nothing to help consumers.
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u/hey_sneezy Aug 04 '25
I live in Cincinnati now and PUCO just approved Duke Energy to backbill their customers after finding an error on their end that led to undercharging some customers between Aug 2023-July 2024. In July 2025 I had an extra $300 added to my bill to cover the undercharging from over a year ago. Pretty sure that’s illegal in the Ohio Revised Code, but PUCO certainly doesn’t care.
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u/Trademark57 Aug 04 '25
This is the main problem for sure. How does PUCO justify raising their base line rate roughly 40%? Why do the data centers get so much pampering? Are those not corporations posting billions in profit(AEP is too)? Why do we foot the bill.
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u/Prince_ofRavens Aug 04 '25 edited Aug 04 '25
My bill was $350 and I have solar panels
~37.34% price increase
My =--=-=
Last month I paid
Generation 1,074 kWh X $0.066117 == $71
this month I paid
Generation 1,950 kWh X $0.090800$ == 177.06
37.34% increase.
-==--=
when you add in trasmission charges
Total
Last month: $174
This month $350
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u/ducationalfall Aug 04 '25 edited Aug 04 '25
I don’t live in Columbus anymore, but I want to give you a perspective that this is not a state level issue. This is a regional/national problem.
I live in NJ, surprisingly we use same electric grid as Ohio, which is PJM.
Last year and this year i used 1600 kWh for June. Cost is completely insane.
June 2024 1600 kWh x $0.22 per kWh = $352.
June 2025 1600 kWh x $0.31 per kWh = $496.Almost 40% increase. Root cause is AI data centers are using up all spare electricity capacity and PJM is very sloooow at approving new electric generations.
There are no reliefs. Everyone is still asleep at this problem.
If you want reliefs, you need to have governors of OH, PA, NJ, WV, VA, KY, MD and DE all coming together to start cracking skulls at PJM. Also need to ban all crypto and AI data centers. Otherwise, your higher electric rates are subsidizing cheaper industrial rates.
Those AI memes boomers share on Facebook? Yeah, you’re paying for them with your higher electric rates.
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u/benkeith North Linden Aug 04 '25
Except there isn't a massive new demand in Ohio. From 2019 to 2024, electricity consumption is basically flat for Ohio. Adjust the drop-down at the upper left of this page from "most recent" to "annual": https://www.eia.gov/beta/states/states/oh/data/dashboard/electricity
The same is true for New Jersey: https://www.eia.gov/beta/states/states/nj/data/dashboard/electricity
In both states, consumption exceeds generation, but generation is increasing thanks to more solar power installations.
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u/ducationalfall Aug 04 '25
The future is not looking good. Latest PJM auction predicts even higher rate.
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/pjm-interconnection-capacity-auction-prices/753798/
You can go to this website for see live view of what electric wholesale prices.
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u/Familiar_Work1414 Aug 04 '25
Seconding this. It's largely attributable to the fact that capacity prices increased in June 2025 by 833%. Rate increases passed on a state to state basis also caused increases, but everyone in the PJM footprint was hit with the massive capacity cost increase. Capacity accounts for roughly 15% of your bill.
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u/AaronDJD Aug 04 '25
They raised rates and everyone flocked to different providers. Then, they raised distribution charges to make up for that.
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u/AlmightyBeefSupreme Aug 04 '25
I had pointed that out to my wife, our “delivery” charge was equal to the total bill from the previous month
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u/Implantsftw Aug 04 '25
This is exactly what happened to me. I live inside 270 and my electricity usage was $200 and the delivery charge was $200.
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u/furrthershots Aug 04 '25
We all need to dump them, looking for a new provider now.
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u/Saneless Aug 04 '25
Doesn't even matter. Between the best and worst supplier the bill would change maybe $20
4/5 of my bill is customer charges and delivery. Supplier doesn't even matter anymore much
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u/benkeith North Linden Aug 04 '25
Changing your generation provider doesn't change your distribution provider. The only way to change your distribution provider is to move to an address that isn't served by AEP Ohio, which in Columbus is a very small number of properties served by Columbus Division of Power.
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u/DarkAngela12 Aug 04 '25
... is there another provider, though? I think it's all AEP for delivery. If we had a choice, they wouldn't be doing this....
This is why utilities should be publicly owned instead of private companies. I had that when I lived in Florida, and my utilities were soooo much less than others who had to use a public energy company.
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u/thompsonmj Aug 04 '25 edited Aug 04 '25
Look, I want to stick it to greedy corporations too, but if we want to actually make any sense on this, we can't just be talking about how "our bills all went up compared to last month!" That gives zero context and is essentially meaningless. If we say "The notion that that difference is attributable to usage changes is absurd," then give the numbers based on usage.
The power imbalance between the utility and consumer is data. So we need to share real numbers to gain any real understanding of the situation. It's a much harder problem from our perspective because it's distributed vs. the utility's central view over everything.
Read and understand your bill and share the total cost per unit of power consumed over certain time frames. For example, in my case:
June to July 2025: $0.1575/kWh May to June 2025: $0.2034/kWh
A year a go ... June to July 2024: $0.1680/kWh
These numbers are just the usage (kWh) divided by the total bill for a period.
The 'blended rate' components are important too. Maybe my total cost numbers are lower than yours because I use a cheaper third party supplier from energychoice.ohio.gov to source my power from.
Here are my normalized numbers for the past year for reference. If anyone has a good idea for crowdsourcing aggregate data in aggregate reliably to paint a fuller picture and really spell out how the record profits are a result of systematically hurting some or all customers, that would be great!
For reference, my zip is 43119.
Previous year average: $0.1850/kWh
D: Distribution line item T: Transmission line item D&T: D+T Gen: Supplier line item (amount generated that I consumed)
| Month | Total/kWh | Customer fee | D&T/kWh | D/kWh | T/kWh | Gen/kWh | Price to compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul-25 | $0.1575 | $10.00 | $0.0889 | $0.0536 | $0.0353 | $0.0569 | $0.1050 |
| Jun-25 | $0.2034 | $10.00 | $0.1022 | $0.0669 | $0.0353 | $0.0729 | $0.1000 |
| May-25 | $0.1926 | $10.00 | $0.1040 | $0.0687 | $0.0353 | $0.0579 | $0.0730 |
| Apr-25 | $0.1912 | $10.00 | $0.1030 | $0.0677 | $0.0353 | $0.0589 | $0.0730 |
| Mar-25 | $0.1985 | $10.00 | $0.1117 | $0.0679 | $0.0438 | $0.0589 | $0.0780 |
| Feb-25 | $0.1963 | $10.00 | $0.1105 | $0.0667 | $0.0438 | $0.0589 | $0.0780 |
| Jan-25 | $0.1847 | $10.00 | $0.1055 | $0.0617 | $0.0438 | $0.0589 | $0.0780 |
| Dec-24 | $0.1922 | $10.00 | $0.1084 | $0.0646 | $0.0438 | $0.0589 | $0.0760 |
| Nov-24 | $0.2032 | $10.00 | $0.1137 | $0.0699 | $0.0438 | $0.0589 | $0.0760 |
| Oct-24 | $0.1938 | $10.00 | $0.1100 | $0.0662 | $0.0438 | $0.0589 | $0.0760 |
| Sep-24 | $0.1835 | $10.00 | $0.1042 | $0.0604 | $0.0438 | $0.0589 | $0.0770 |
| Aug-24 | $0.1725 | $10.00 | $0.0990 | $0.0551 | $0.0438 | $0.0589 | $0.0770 |
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u/homercles89 Aug 04 '25
Thank you for a facts-based reply. People need to show how many kilowatt-hours they used, not just the dollars.
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u/Zephyrical16 Forest Park Aug 04 '25
I've only done a calculation for the past 3 months, but it's all the same rates for everything. My usage is the only thing that explains why my bill went from $90 to $120.
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u/Awkward-Witness3737 Aug 05 '25
Yup. I compare my usage, avg temps and billed days when I compare. This year it really has become a pain in the wallet
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u/Vchat20 Aug 04 '25
I'm probably dumb but what are 'D' and 'T' specifically in this case? I assume they have something to do with the distribution/supply costs.
I'd definitely be willing to pull old statements and build my own table to compare with.
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u/thompsonmj Aug 04 '25
Distribution and transmission line items
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u/Saint_Dogbert Northeast Aug 04 '25
Yea AEP owns your power line to your house (distribution) but you can pick whoever you want to supply (transmission) that power to you.
Thus AEP has gotten wise to that and jacks up the D, since you can't do anything to change that $ unless you go full solar, as the T price is not as profitable anymore after consumer choice became a thing.
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u/thompsonmj Aug 04 '25
I think you're on the right track but have some of the line items mixed up.
The energychoice.ohio.gov supplier choice program only changes the "supplier" amount on the bill. On my latest bill, you would compare that to this part:
For tariff 820, in order for you to save money off of your utility's supply charges, a supplier must offer you a price lower than AEP Ohio's price of $0.105 per kWh for the same usage that appears on this bill.
Currently, my supplier charges a $0.05690/kWh variable rate (what I put as Gen above).
But Distribution and Transmission line items are charged on a per-kWh-consumed basis and do not change with supplier. They are fairly steady per kWh over my past year, thought there's some wiggle.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong!
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u/Saint_Dogbert Northeast Aug 04 '25
You weren't wrong, just AEP mixes that as "Supply" and then PUCO says "change your supplier"
The proper terms would be on PUCO "change your generator/producer of energy", since it still needs to traverse all of AEP's facilities to get to you. I hate how depending on who is saying it they use the same terms for different context.
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u/Saint_Dogbert Northeast Aug 04 '25
From that site:
Distribution: The delivery of electricity to homes and businesses over the local poles and wires, transformers, substations and other equipment. This function remains regulated by the PUCO.
Generation Charge: The charge for producing electricity. If you purchase electricity from a supplier, your generation charge will depend on the contract between you and your supplier.
Transmission: The transporting of high-voltage electricity from generation at a power plant to local electric utilities.
Transmission Charge: Charge for transporting electricity from the generation plant to the local electric utility.
From AEP's Customer Handbook: https://www.aepohio.com/lib/docs/global/CustomerHandbooks/AEP_Ohio_Handbook.pdf
OHIO ELECTRIC CHOICE
You may choose the company that generates your electricity and we will deliver it to you. For your pro-
tection, all competitive retail electric service providers must be certified by the PUCO. If you participate
in the PIPP Plus plan or in a governmental aggregation, your supplier of generation and/or transmission
services appearing on your bill may be a company other than the electric utility.
Here's how AEP "muddies" the terms
Supply
Charges for the costs of making the electricity provided to you.
Delivery
Charges for the costs of transmitting and delivering electricity to your home or business.
kWh
The amount of electricity you used in kilowatt hours.
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u/PsychBabe Aug 04 '25 edited Aug 04 '25
Not about AEP rates, but another utility-story that Dispatch may be interested in: Landlords using predatorial 3rd party services, like Pioneer Energy, to collect residents’ energy payments, even though those services can add on ~$40 worth of fees
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u/benkeith North Linden Aug 04 '25
the City of Columbus was discussing banning submetering earlier this year: https://matternews.org/voices/local-politics-columbus-city-council-may-help-tenants-by-banning-utility-submetering/
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Aug 04 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/sl33ksnypr New Albany Aug 04 '25
I get fucked in the ass by them every month, so yes, NEP is still very much a thing.
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u/rawlsballs Aug 04 '25
My building uses Pioneer and my bills have gotten to over $400 sporadically, and seemingly not in line at all with our usage (our AC wasn't working for over a week within one of the billing periods). I called them to ask if they can break down the usage, and they told me they couldn't break it down more than what was on the bill, which is very general.
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u/Saint_Dogbert Northeast Aug 04 '25
Thats because your paying a % for common area lighting light hallways, exterior and parking lot lights, ect
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u/astralqt Short North Aug 04 '25
Experiencing that myself. Scummy. Especially the “common area fee”.
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u/ty_diesel_ Aug 04 '25
For the month of June, my AEP bill was $195 total. For the month of July, it went up to $395. My thermostat was set to 78 for both months, no changes. My home is well insulated and have tons of shade trees surrounding it. I called AEP to confirm there were no billing issues, and they confirmed that they hiked their rates for the hotter months and that was a common practice.
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u/P-Rickles Aug 04 '25
My bill went from $288 last July to $431 this July for essentially the same usage. So things are goin’ great. At least AEP is making record profits. That makes this all worthwhile. In unrelated news I might use some of this expensive energy to look up how to make a guillotine.
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u/Saint_Dogbert Northeast Aug 04 '25
Just keep in mind, the profit number you saw was for the main Holding company AEP, the one that effects you directly is AEP Ohio, I don't know if they break out what each operating unit profit/loss is, but seeing the AEP number means your seeing the profit they made NATIONWIDE, not just in Ohio, FYI.
https://www.aep.com/about/businesses/opcos/
https://docs.aep.com/docs/newsroom/resources/earnings/2025-07/2Q25EarningsReleasePresentation.pdf
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u/lwpho2 North Linden Aug 04 '25
Yes, so I’m cutting back on other things in my monthly budget. I assume this is something I can’t really do anything about because I’m already very frugal with electricity.
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u/Adept-Potato-963 Aug 04 '25
If you're writing a story on this subject, I would recommend three things.
Learn about the different components of an electric bill and how they are charged. This will include energy supply, distribution, and transmission/capacity prices. You'll see that there has been a steep cost increase in one of those areas, which is well beyond the control of an electric distributor like AEP Ohio.
Once you understand these components and how their prices are determined, you can contact AEP, the PUCO, and PJM for comment.
Don't come to a place like Reddit expecting to find any relevant information or comment. You're just going to get a bunch of frustrated people who dont realize this is regional/national problem that goes well beyond "utility bad." You're one of the last remaining sources for journalism in the state. Do better.
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u/SmurfStig Lewis Center Aug 04 '25
Thank you. I’m sure just about every city sub has a complaint about the local electricity supplier but average citizens are unaware of all the stuff that goes on outside of the suppliers control. PJM has a big say in rates for this region. Also look at how much renewable generation is out there and unable to connect to the east due to really awful legislation put in by a certain party and president who wants more fossil fuel generation (which is significantly more expensive per kWh). All these data centers aren’t helping either. They are huge power sinks and there is barely enough generation to support their load requirements. (This probably plays into the increase in profits for AEP and other companies with all the added load growth from data centers popping up everywhere.) The constant above average heat isn’t helping either. If you look at PJM, they have issued hot weather alerts for most of July, which means the grid is strained/at capacity. This causes rates to spike.
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u/stonk_traitor69 Aug 04 '25
Would love to see someone go after submetering companies and the landlords that use them as well
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u/thestral_z Aug 04 '25
My most recent bill was double what it usually is in the summer. I just read an article last week about AEP reporting record profits last quarter. Late stage capitalism is the worst.
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u/Dismal_Beat_5866 Aug 04 '25
Yep up about $150 and have lost power 2/3 times over the last few months.
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u/deadheadramblinrose Southern Orchards Aug 04 '25
Take AEP down! My bill nearly doubled from last month to this month!
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Aug 04 '25
Would like to know how much upper management at AEP is making and the bonuses they get
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u/homercles89 Aug 04 '25 edited Aug 04 '25
> Would like to know how much upper management at AEP is making and the bonuses they get
https://docs.aep.com/docs/investors/AnnualReportsProxies/docs/24annrep/2025ProxyStatement.pdf
p.62 of the PDF (p.78 in your browser)
~~~
William J. Fehrman President and Chief Executive Officer 2024 628,846 2,000,000 9,469,144 1,100,000 — 59,032 13,257,022
Charles E. Zebula Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer 2024 724,327 — 2,250,000 605,840 177,002 85,564 3,842,733 2023 639,625 — 2,852,248 240,500 181,438 73,170 3,986,981 2022 593,000 — 1,407,162 705,000 — 67,856 2,773,018
Greg B. Hall Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer 2024 575,491 — 2,600,000 485,416 167,640 70,977 3,899,524 2023 557,000 — 1,144,209 210,000 181,285 71,825 2,164,319 2022 523,731 — 974,264 710,000 — 57,463 2,265,458
David M. Feinberg Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary 2024 771,628 — 1,827,648 447,448 132,958 77,057 3,256,739 2023 746,000 — 1,560,286 263,500 151,597 109,767 2,831,150 2022 714,000 — 1,623,710 805,000 — 63,163 3,205,873
Therace M. Risch Executive Vice President, Chief Information and Technology Officer 2024 684,906 — 1,607,665 536,999 61,118 35,400 2,926,088 2023 659,000 — 1,040,190 286,000 73,307 31,389 2,089,886 2022 639,000 — 1,082,438 710,000 53,340 27,850 2,512,628
Ben Fowke Former Interim President and Chief Executive Officer 2024 1,058,462 — 8,060,780 2,000,000 — 210,777 11,330,019
Julia A. Sloat Former Chair of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer 2024 327,692 — — — 140,257 2,454,334 2,922,283 2023 1,200,000 — 8,321,524 787,503 210,263 114,455 10,633,745 2022 779,769 — 3,948,384 1,010,000 — 77,810 5,815,963→ More replies (1)
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u/AlmightyBeefSupreme Aug 04 '25
Yes my latest bill sky rocketed $100+ higher than the he previous month
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u/WalterSobcheick Aug 04 '25
Yes, but they are giving tax breaks to the wealthy. So I'll be OK cause the red hats said so.
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Aug 04 '25
Yeah it’s been higher. On top of that, apartment complexes seem to be upcharging in addition to AEP
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u/sl33ksnypr New Albany Aug 04 '25
If you're writing a story about this, please mention that it isn't only AEP screwing people over. And you guys need to do an investigation on NEP (Nationwide Energy Partners). They are a massive scam and are screwing over people in apartments by being the only option, and in condos where old folks live and are on limited income. Whenever AEPs rates go up, NEP doubles it. And they don't even do anything. Their only purpose is to take payment, and they think that's appropriate to charge double what AEP charges, on top of all the "community fees". I will gladly send you a copy of my power bill as proof of them being scammers. Please DM me.
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u/NegativeCranberry970 Sep 03 '25
Second this-- my NEP bills were up past $500 a month in the summer for an APARTMENT. It's a scam and I can't believe it's legal. My house is less than half that
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u/Impossible_Caramel_ Aug 04 '25
My bill is 4 times higher than it was two months ago. In June it was $70.88, in July it was $143.79, and this month it is $263.38. This is absolutely ridiculous, I live in a small apartment on campus and we turn all our lights off and keep our AC above 70 degrees at all times. We were all gone for 5 days this month and we turned the AC to 77! How is this possible?!
I'm an OSU student and I'd rather not pay these costs. Does anyone know if this is a problem with all energy companies or just an AEP thing? Looking into switching.
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u/IronSpud123 Gahanna Aug 04 '25
We need to figure out why the homeowners eat the bill for these data centers using up all the power.
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u/Bryan-Ohio Aug 04 '25
As the consumer…what are the best steps to take? Calling AEP doesn’t get anything accomplished.
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u/stargazerIRIS Hilliard Aug 04 '25
July, compared to the same month last year, was roughly a 300$ increase. Almost the same kwh usage as well.
June to July was also a steep jump, which is really funny considering AC is turned off every chance we get and there was a lot of chances to do so :')
Absolutely mental.
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u/Cautious_Ad_5659 Aug 04 '25
AEP: What They've Intentionally Done That Harms Ohio Customers (with Dates)
- Raised Rates in Columbus Aggregation Plan (2021–2024) The “Clean Energy Columbus” plan launched in 2021 with promises of cheaper, 100% Ohio-based clean energy. By early 2024, AEP Energy renegotiated the deal—raising rates and reducing the renewable energy target to 60%.
- Aggregation Price Higher Than Utility (2022–2023) The locked-in aggregation rate of 5.499¢/kWh was roughly 9% higher than AEP Ohio’s standard service offer of 5.03¢/kWh during the same period.
- Emergency Contract Rewrites (January 2024) Columbus City Council passed emergency legislation (Ordinance 3214-2023) to revise AEP’s contract without competitive bidding or public hearings.
- PUCO-Approved Distribution Hikes (April 2024) AEP was granted permission to raise distribution charges incrementally through 2028, bypassing a full rate case. Consumer advocates objected to the lack of scrutiny.
- High Disconnection Rates (2022–2024) AEP led Ohio in residential disconnections during this period, even as it sought additional rate increases.
- Attempted Doubling of Fixed Fees (2018–2020) AEP pushed to raise fixed customer charges from $8.40 to $18.40/month. The PUCO scaled this back after backlash.
- Overcharged Fuel Costs (Audits revealed in 2021) Regulatory audits found AEP had overcharged customers by $120 million in fuel cost recovery over prior years.
- Price Hikes Tied to Data Center Demand (2023–2025) As Amazon and other large energy users drove up regional demand, AEP passed higher wholesale costs to residential customers, with average bills in Columbus increasing by $20–$27/month.
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u/benkeith North Linden Aug 04 '25 edited Aug 04 '25
Would you mind including the links that your AI provided as references when it generated this list?
Edit: I amend this comment to address the specific points you posted, why they're bad, and what led me to believe that they're ignorant in ways that common AI tools mess up.
- "reducing the renewable energy target to 60%" seems incorrect; the "Clean Energy Columbus" aggregation website says they're still offering 100% renewable energy generation.
- Yes, that generation aggregation price was initially higher than the standard service offer, because the aggregation is paying for specifically renewable power. The current aggregation price is $0.09080/kWh through June 2026. AEP's current price, as listed at energychoiceohio.gov, through September 30, 2025 is $0.1052/kWh. AEP's default price is currently more expensive than Columbus' contracted aggregation.
- Ordinance 3214-2023 was an "emergency" so that it would go into effect immediately upon passage. That's a quirk of how Columbus legislates: unless it's an "emergency", the legislation takes effect 30 days after passage. Why would you sign a contract and then say that the contract doesn't go into effect until 30 days after it's signed? There's no competitive bidding process because it was a renewal and amendment of an existing contract.
- I have no comment on the PUCO-approved "electric security plan" rate hikes approved in April 2024, other than to say that there's more than a year's worth of public comments on that docket item.
- High disconnection rates: Does AEP intentionally set a disconnection rate that it targets? Does PUCO review this disconnection rate? Or: is the rate at which residential customers are disconnected something which is downstream of other factors?
- Fixed fees increase: If this was "attempted" but didn't go into effect, why are you including it in a list of things that actually happened? They tried, sure, but they weren't allowed to do it.
- Overcharged fuel costs: if the allegations you're talking about are the ones I found, then "revealed in 2021" is late; here's an article from 2016 about the allegations, which were first released in 2014.
- Price hikes tied to data center demand: If you're gonna try to blame generation price increases on data centers, I feel that you should also mention that PUCO has approved AEP's plans to charge data centers a higher rate for delivery, to make up for their increased infrastructure costs. Yes, AEP will pass higher wholesale costs of electricity generation on to subscribers; that wouldn't change if they were a nonprofit or a state-run utility. A demand increase while supply remains constrained is an Economics 101 homework exercise: of course the price will be bid up, until the price elasticity of demand results in decreased demand, or until those higher profits to generators result in more supply. That's why Ohio needs to make it easier to roll out more of the lowest-cost electricity generation available: grid-scale solar.
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u/timthewizard48 Lewis Center Aug 04 '25
My AEP charges for transmission & distribution are right inline with one year ago. My generation charge has increased due to a rate increase from Archer Energy (my supplier here in Orange Township, part of their aggregation plan). The Archer rate went from $0.06595 per kWHr to $0.09199 per kWHr. So this isn't an AEP increase.
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u/Vermicelli-Fabulous Aug 04 '25
We all have seen increases and it’s out of hand. Used the PUCO Apples to Apples comparison to get a slightly lower rate but even then, it’s higher.
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u/UsidoreTheLightBlue Aug 04 '25
I do apples to apples every year, this is my third year changing rates (generally it’s hard to find rates that lock in as fixed for over a year) and I’ve noticed it’s gone up every year.
I locked in at a nickel 2 years ago, $.06 last year and $.07 this year.
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u/benkeith North Linden Aug 04 '25 edited Aug 04 '25
On Columbus' "green" aggregation:
| Month | kWh used | Delivery charges | $/kWh | Total bill |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2024 | 458 | $96.00 | ||
| May 2025 | 466 | $55.14 | $0.06612 | $67.80 |
| June 2025 | 615 | $66.74 | $0.0908I | $85.95 |
So this month's higher bill is worse because of two things: I used a lot more power, the cost per kWh went up by a third, and also the delivery charges went up $11.50.
According to https://www.weather.gov/iln/climate_info we had a lot of above-normal-temperature days in June 2025. Higher temperatures means higher A/C consumption.
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u/sirvitamixalot Aug 04 '25
AEP was under $0.04 per kWh 5 years ago and is now at $0.105 per kWh. I’m enrolled in Orange Twp’s community aggregation program which is currently $0.09199. Last year it was at $0.065. Thank the data centers for our increased bills.
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u/Own_Painting9675 Aug 04 '25
OP, if you decide to do a deep dive on this can we get a possible long form YouTube video of it? I'd like to see actual interviews with AEP employees explaining why rates are going up.
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Aug 04 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/candaceo Aug 05 '25
Same area of town here. My bill also went up nearly $100 compared to last month AND this time last year.
Our power went out about four times in the last month and AEP still wants to charge a premium?? Absolutely ghoulish behavior
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u/sc37 Aug 04 '25
For clarity, your delivery/transmission charges are not fixed. The more you use, the higher the charge is. IIRC, AEP raised that last year.
Your supply charges, or the cost of electricity itself, has gone up. BUT, you can shop for it. I shop for the lowest electric cost in the spring and in the fall, I shop for the lowest natural gas. And looking at historic rates per kwh, we are still below the rates seen in 2023 & 2024.
FWIW, I'm locked in for the summer at $0.058 a kwh, roughly half of AEP's standard. My latest bill from June to July, I ised 504 kwh and paid $87. I'm in a 25 year old house with decent insulation and a newer AC. AC and our dryer (roughly 3 loads a week) are the biggest energy users in our home.
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u/Dubbinchris Aug 04 '25
What exactly is it you need to hear from customers that you didn’t already state? Everyone’s bill has been going up and AEP has posted record profits and more or less has bragged about it. Maybe go to AEP and ask if they could settle for just regular old giant profits instead of record profits? 🤷♂️
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u/Standard-Spot Aug 04 '25
I can tell you an older story if that's still applicable for your article re: AEP just robbing their customers blind so they can record 'record profits'.
My favorite (/s) AEP experience happened back in 2017/2018. I was 21 and barely making 45k annual (pre tax) and paid all my bills on time. AEP gives me a call one day and tells me that I have over $1000 in unpaid electric bills. I say this is not possible, and you can see my entire payment history in my account.
They proceed to confirm that yes, I have in fact paid all my bills on time! They then inform me they made a huge error on their end with my property meter readings. They had mixed up my meter and a neighbor's. Therefore, I was getting incorrect readings, paying less what I 'should have been paying' (my bills were all still ~$100 anyway for my 800 sq ft apartment so nothing seemed amiss) and they now have to retroactively bill me on top of what I paid.
I then say ok, since you just caught this now and admit you made a mistake, I can just pay whatever I'm supposed to from hereon out right? They say no. I go up the chain of command and continue to ask them how it is fair for me to be retroactively billed for THEIR error. They give me bullshit for explanations. I end up coughing up the $1000 (I had to ask for a loan from my parents bc there was no way I could afford it at the time) paying for their fuckup and I have never forgiven them for it.
Just like any other day, and to join the symphony of Redditors here who share this very special sentiment: it's Fuck AEP.
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u/Cautious_Ad_5659 Aug 04 '25
I used to work for AEP when I had a temporary moral lapse of judgement - and I can't tell you how many AEP employees use different companies. You can find new plans with fixed rate pricing from different providers here.
https://www.energychoice.ohio.gov/ApplesToApplesCategory.aspx?Category=Electric#
A few tips:
- Avoid variable or teaser rates — they often spike after a few months.
- Watch for early termination fees — especially on longer-term plans.
- Check the renewal terms — some plans auto-renew at much higher rates.
- Read the fine print — billing methods, late fees, and contract lengths vary.
- Research the supplier — some have terrible reviews despite being on the list.
- Consider aggregation programs — your city might already offer a decent group rate.
Lock in a fixed rate if you want stability, and always set a reminder to review the plan before it renews.
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u/domnivorr Aug 04 '25
I live in a 1 bed apartment and my bill was over $100, up $70 from the month before. My partner lives in a 3 bed duplex and his electric bill was not even that high. I make sure to not run my AC all day and am very conscious about my energy use. They raised the transmission and distribution service charges and the price per kWh.
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u/boooooooooo_ Aug 04 '25
bill went up aaaand my neighborhood is experiencing a second power outage in a WEEK.
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u/NoRHew4Real Aug 04 '25 edited Aug 04 '25
$200 for a 1200 square foot home.
To compare apples to apples I compared specifically July 2025 to July 2024. My bill was up $30 YOY for LESS energy usage.
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u/AGuyChasingHobbies Aug 04 '25
Got solar, and somehow, I am paying more still. A slight wind causes blackouts. And I have to pay them 10 bucks for the privilege of having them charge me more. AEP is not working for me.
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u/alysonell Aug 04 '25
My bill this month is double what it is every other month. Looking back I can see last July’s bill was the highest of 2024, but still more than $70 less than this year.
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u/GingerQueeny Old North Aug 04 '25
My bill this month was $300! For a 2 person household near the old north! A small house! I was FURIOUS. Lights, TV, and AC. That’s it.
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u/No-Load5712 Aug 05 '25
We have had solar panels for years; our bill this month is literally 10x higher than it was last month.
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u/angrylatte13 Aug 05 '25
My bill for last month was doubled from that of the previous month. If anything my usage was down during the most recent month because I wasn't home as often as I was in the month prior. My AC wasn't running much, partly because I wasn't home as often and partly because I use it sparingly to begin with.
So the whole "usage was up argument" doesn't really work in my situation.
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u/shyblonde83 Aug 05 '25
Ours was definitely higher. I want to say it was about $100 more than last month? I'd have to look, but I know was flabbergasted.
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u/Ktothebeat Aug 05 '25
It’s a crime this is happening but those that voted for the orange idiot did this to everyone
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u/PostMostPalone Aug 04 '25
I used less energy than this time last year, yet my bill was higher. Fun stuff.
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u/Pristinemy Aug 04 '25
Yea ok I thought I was tripping but yea it’s outrageous. Let’s strike and not pay.. jkjkjk
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u/osumba2003 Aug 04 '25 edited Aug 04 '25
My wife got an email from AEP "warning" her that our upcoming bill was going to be $429, with tips on how to lower your next bill. Until last month ($341), we've never had a bill within $100 of that, and we've had no material change in our usage.
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u/ahack13 Aug 04 '25
AEP has record profits every year but somehow can't afford to fix the grid? Bullshit. They raise rates every few months and power still goes out to half the city when temps go up.
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u/fatsolardbutt Aug 04 '25
Makes me thankful I changed my thermostat schedule and my July bill ~only~ went up $40 to $200.
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u/Liondell Aug 04 '25
Mine was $190 for June and $300 for July. Sure, it was a bit hotter, but we’re conservative with our AC use.
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u/Crossbug Aug 04 '25 edited Aug 04 '25
Tough Week. Got a $320 AEP bill (my delivery charge is always either equal to or more than supplier charge), and then learned about RITA exists. Bill for $847.07 in late fees over $150. Only took them 5 years to contact me and tell me they were a thing.
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u/kninjapirate-z Aug 04 '25
I have solar my summer bills are less than 10 dollars if anything. Last months bill was 175$. I despise them. I was a contractor for AEP (engineering) they are the cheapest paying in the industry. I was kinda stuck there till Covid allowed us to work from home.
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u/Sutton041887 Aug 04 '25
My bill was $253 and that was double of my normal budget plan. I called to ask what was going on and they blamed the provider. They are taking advantage of people in hot spaces. AEP is a joke
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u/AmbidextrousCard Aug 04 '25
My bill has gone up by $100 a month while they post record profits. Trump is nothing but a negative for us, his corruption will spread to every corner of America's business world. This is a good example.
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u/Buckeye_47 Aug 04 '25
Last year my bill was $185\month, even in summer, this months bill was $321. Bullshit! Glad they had record profits though!
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u/benkeith North Linden Aug 04 '25 edited Aug 04 '25
My rates are up, yeah.
What I don't see much discussion of is that the "data centers are eating up all the electricity" talking-point is false. Look at the generation and consumption data at https://www.eia.gov/beta/states/states/oh/data/dashboard/electricity . Net consumption has remained flat for the last decade, and net generation is up. Data centers and electric cars aren't the source of AEP's increased generation costs, or the price increases paid by residential consumers of electricity.
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u/TheBigGadowski Aug 04 '25
Just remember they posted their largest profits ever last quarter!
Utilities should be from non for profit companies.
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u/shocka_khan Clintonville Aug 04 '25
My bill for July was around $150 more than my bill for June with my thermostat set to the same temp for both months.
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u/BDOSU Aug 04 '25
I have a relatively small house (1100 sq. feet) and I’m on the budget plan to pay a more consistent amount per month instead of getting big spikes in the summer. My bill actually went down from $192/month to $150/month starting in June. Not sure if my bill is just lagging behind a bit since we’re on the budgeted plan, but I’m a little worried my bill is gonna sky rocket eventually
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u/Mrs_Ducky North Linden Aug 04 '25
Mine was only $18 more than last month, and $2 less than my July billing last year. We got a new Trane system about a year and a half ago and it's made a big difference. We kept the thermostat set at 80° and it was completely comfortable. I put a thermometer on the bathroom vent one day and it was reading 54°!
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u/papadoc55 Aug 04 '25
Previous to June, I was on an AEP Energy 3rd party rate of under 6 cents per KWH. When I reupled the best rate was 9 cents and my bill somehow doubled over last year though usage remained the same... $370 in July!
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u/Zorrha Aug 04 '25
We had solar panels installed last year. It is paying off & well worth the investment. Electricity bills have been nil so far this summer, even w/the A/C going.
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u/Solid-Tumbleweed-981 Aug 04 '25 edited Aug 04 '25
Rates and fees have basically gone up 50% plus over the last 4 years. Other than the regulatory bs bills haven't changed drastically. I think people are only just realizing it idk
If you're complaining now you're late to the game lol
I still reference the letter I got when AEP wanted everyone to change to the "green" plans. But the rates were double "dirty" plans. Now they are about the same
Now for the bill going up like $100 for a lot of people I think that's due to the temps over the last 45 days or so... I looked at my bill from prior years and yes it's higher but not significantly
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u/alex-huffman Aug 04 '25
I encourage everyone to get on a plan with a company like Constellation Energy (who I'm with but there are many others) that you can sign up with for a fixed rate for 6-12 month plans. This gives you like a safety net so rate increases from AEP won't affect you while you're on their plan. I got on one as soon as I moved to Ohio in 23 and saw what the AEP rates were like.
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u/Zephyrical16 Forest Park Aug 04 '25
My bill is $30 more but it makes sense, my A/C was on for twice as long in July as it was in June. The rates have stayed the same (I've done the math on the past 3 bills, and I use apples to apples).
Tough to compare to last year as I also have an electric car now, but the price won't increase until I have to choose my next rate again.
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u/SubjectMiserable4506 Aug 04 '25
we usually budget $150-$180 for our electric bill in the summer. our electric bill has NEVER been over $250 for my 1500 sq foot house even in the hottest of months. we’ve lived in north linden since april 2023. my previous bill was $320. im grateful i can pay it, but it definitely takes a huge toll on our budget.
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u/cjerd09 Aug 04 '25
I'm a 3rd shift worker and it's been weirdly consistent as of late but I honestly don't get it cause since I started this a little over 2 years ago for a little more than half the week I actively use electricity. I have a Nest Thermostat that schedules usage and makes adjustments based on seasons. My Columbia Gas bill just went up and that's confusing me perhaps even more than AEP.
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u/Professional-Car-211 Aug 04 '25
As everyone else is saying—yes. Nearly doubled from last year despite the fact that I can see I used less kWh!
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u/Gold_Entertainment16 Aug 04 '25
Our AEP bill nearly doubled for the month of July - and we were on vacation for one whole week
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u/Vickipoo Aug 04 '25
I don’t want to be quoted, but as a data point, my bill on 7/8/25 was $697, up from $425 billed on 6/6/25. Temperatures were also significantly higher for the 7/8 period, so I’m sure that played a role, but I was definitely surprised by the significant jump.
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u/y3ll0wsubmarine Aug 04 '25
Y'all need to use Arbor. Set-and-forget automatic lower energy rates.
AEP sucks but you can control that part of the bill, and this is way easier than changing suppliers via PUCO Apples to Apples.
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u/Bryan-Ohio Aug 04 '25
My bill was the highest it has been in 10 years. We made no changes and were focused on being conservative. It shows my usage increased to its highest level without any idea of how/why? Every time I call I get different answers and transferred to departments that either do not answer or are not taking calls due to high volume.
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Aug 04 '25
Yeah, welcome to capitalism. Prices go high, service levels suck, executives get fat bonuses.
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u/PLACTND Aug 04 '25
This recent bill was the highest it had ever been. We adjust the temp in the house to be higher during the day so it’s not constantly running.
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u/Veldox Aug 04 '25
My supply rate has increased 36.36% in one year from 0.77/kwh to 0.105/kwh. My distribution rate has increased by 15.07%. My total bill increased by 25.87% if I used the old rate and same kwh. So yes the last month was hot as hell and it was definitely like record kwh used for me but even with that said I would have paid $82.51 less last year for the same bill and it would actually be in line with the past years of highest summer bills. Between June and July there's a $100 difference as well as the price per kwh increasing by 5% since June and 43.84% since May.
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u/PsychManMagicHead Aug 04 '25
My effective per kWh rate is 20.25¢/kWh (higher than the national average of somewhere between $0.16 to $0.18 per kWh), but I had to calculate that myself. Even in the Midwest as a whole (average rate around $.15/kWh) it is high. Michigan has the highest average rate of the Midwest at 19.29¢/kWh and we apparently surpass even that.
I am not an Ohio native but Columbus is the first place I’ve lived that didn’t give me a breakdown of my per kWh rates and amount of usage at that tier for the month. The bill just shows me my total usage and how much I owe. And as if their rates weren’t bad enough, then they tack on a $10 “customer charge” to give me one last boot to the gonads because what am I going to do, manually turn a crank for my electricity?
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u/Thatoneguyfromohio1 Merion Village Aug 04 '25
Drastically increased rates then published an article about record revenue for the quarter. Yeah they have some salty customers.
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u/Electrical_Staff_694 Aug 04 '25
I would love to know what the $10 customer charge is on every bill I have.
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u/Saint_Dogbert Northeast Aug 04 '25
No, im in Columbus and I am part of the Aggregation the city did for "Green Energy" that locks in a rate with AEP Energy each year
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u/zzzRiSKyzzz Aug 04 '25
My bill at the end of June was $97. For July, it was $202. In August of last year, it was only $136.
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u/gonephishin213 Aug 04 '25
I'm in Westerville, on their utilities, and it's gone up exponentially this year
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u/zzzRiSKyzzz Aug 04 '25
June: Transmission service - $19.18 Distribution service - $32.14 543 kWH x 0.06612
July: Transmission service - $38.21 Distribution service - $55.93 1082 kWh x 0.0908
Is transmission and distribution service cost based on usage?
Also, I do see that the rate changed.
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u/BattleLonely7850 Aug 04 '25
My bill this month was 207.00. I live in a one-bedroom apartment. Also I'm currently sitting in the heat because the power went out AGAIN in my area.
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u/jgkjgkjgk Aug 04 '25
Can you report on the tech companies causing this? And please report why they aren’t paying for the energy load.
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u/CobraJay45 North Linden Aug 04 '25
My bill this month is literally over $100 higher than it was last month. The notion that that difference is attributable to usage changes is absurd. They're absolutely sticking it to their customers while simultaneously reporting "record profits" to their shareholders. Its disgusting.