Changing How AEP Does Business…

By Morgan Harper

community of Central Ohio will require changing how AEP does business.

Last summer, AEP Ohio shut off the power of nearly 170,000 Central Ohio residents citing stresses on the electricity grid from record high temperatures and storm damage. The Columbus NAACP and elected officials called out the company for targeting Black and low-income communities disproportionately with the shutoffs.

That pressure led AEP Ohio’s president himself to attend a community meeting at Triedstone Baptist Church where he pledged to be a better community partner, and the company donated $1.5 million to support families impacted by shutoffs. Getting a large, public company to give away money is no small feat, but procuring better utility outcomes and environmental justice for the Black

AEP Ohio is the state’s largest utility provider, serving over 1.5 million people. AEP Ohio did not become this large through superior service or innovation. In fact, the state government gave AEP a monopoly over electricity in certain regions, subject to regulation by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). The decision to have private companies instead of publicly owned utilities meant that AEP could profit, and profit they have.

In 2022, the CEO of AEP Energy, AEP Ohio’s parent company made over $16 million dollars. They have paid millions in shareholder dividends and political contributions over the past several decades. They have also donated through affiliated non-profit entities, including $700,000 to Generation Now, the organization responsible for promoting HB6 and the largest corruption scandal in Ohio’s history, which recently sent Larry Householder to prison.

AEP making and spending money is not illegal. Private companies exist to profit. But AEP fulfills a public role by selling a product— electricity— that every citizen and business needs to function daily; therefore, their business decisions are our business.

Right now, AEP is facing a critical decision. They say they need more financial resources for infrastructure improvements. Instead of cutting back on shareholder dividends or limiting political contributions or making the investments in renewable energy years ago that would have made our communities more resilient, they want the PUCO to allow them to increase electricity rates beginning in 2024 for everyday people throughout Central Ohio.

The president of AEP Ohio promised in a Black church one year ago to be a good community partner. It’s our job to hold him to his promises. The PUCO has the power to stop the rate increases and, at a minimum, demand full transparency around how AEP will spend revenue from additional rate hikes.