AEP Ohio

AEP Ohio, AEP Ohio, a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) today filed its electric security plan (ESP) with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) for rate adjustments from 2012. ESP Business is a comprehensive plan that offers limited increases customer’s bill on production rates, while encouraging investment in electricity infrastructure and consumption programs in the state of Ohio.

The plan provides for ongoing support programs to assist low-income customers pay their electricity bills, said renewable energy generation mix of the company, continues its efforts in energy efficiency and give consumers a option to buy directly a portion of their electricity from renewable sources. In addition, ESP AEP Ohio introduced the Growth Fund of Ohio, a $ 25 million contribution from shareholders to support economic development throughout the service territory of the Ohio EPA during the ESP.

“This proposal reflects the current political ESP in the form of rates designed to compete with market prices, while maintaining a path to sustainable investment and certainty of long-term price for our customers,” said Joe Hamrock, AEP Ohio president and chief operating officer. “Deposit ESP also allows Ohio EPA to continue to provide various services that focus on developing renewable energy resources, technological advances to transform our portfolio mix of resources and modernizing the electrical infrastructure. ”

Accordance with state policy, ESP Business fixed rates for all customer classes to better reflect current market prices and competitive pricing structures, while providing a mechanism to reduce the rate impact resulting from this revised fee structure. In addition, the filing ESP provides an alternative option prices in the long term for some industrial and commercial customers to support their continued investment in Ohio by providing price certainty for up to three years beyond the period of ESP.

The plan reflects merger AEP Ohio Columbus Southern Power (CSP) and Ohio Power (OPCO) through a single set of rates for all customers of the Ohio EPA. For the average residential customer CSP 1000-kilowatt hours (kWh) per month, approval of the plan would mean a total increase of a customer monthly bill of about 1.83 and 1.51 per cent or 2012. For the average residential customer OPCO 1000 kWh per month, approval of the plan would result in an increase in total monthly bill of a customer of about 5.50 and 4.87 per cent or 2012.

Components of this include filing of applications to recover costs associated with the closure of production facilities owned by AEP Ohio, the acquisition of new generation resources, including renewable capacity that AEP Ohio owns or operates for customers of Ohio, and environmental investments made after January 1, 2009.

In its application, AEP Ohio is also asking the PUCO to consider mechanisms to support reliability improvements, expansion of the program gridSMART business and new programs, including a renewable energy option for customers who want to source a significant portion of their energy from renewable energy portfolio AEP Ohio and a tariff for residential customers in place measures to support plug-in vehicles

The PUCO is expected to issue an opinion and order on the ESP business in the latest fourth quarter of 2011.

Ohio EPA also notified to the Commission today its intention to file a rate distribution next month. This application seeks to reduce distribution rates in line with current investments and costs needed to provide a distribution service to customers. It has been nearly two decades that followed, either CSP or OPCO cases filed in distribution rates for their respective territories.

AEP Ohio provides electricity to nearly 1.5 million customers of major AEP subsidiaries Columbus Southern Power Company and Ohio Power Company in Ohio, and Wheeling Power Company in the enclave in northern Virginia West. AEP Ohio is based in Gahanna; Ohio is a unit of American Electric Power. News and information on AEP Ohio can be found at aepohio.com.

American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, providing electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the largest producers of electricity in the country, has nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a network of nearly 39,000-mile, which includes more than 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage lines of all other transmission systems in the United States combined. Transmission system of the ASP, directly or indirectly serves about 10 percent of the electricity demand in the Eastern Interconnection, the interconnected transmission system that covers 38 eastern and central U.S. states and the Eastern Canada, and about 11 percent of the electricity demand in ERCOT, the transmission system that covers much of Texas. Utility units operate as AEP to AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas). AEP’s headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio.

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