AEP Ohio Begins Electric Security Plan Process For 2015

Filing proposes decrease in rates, continued infrastructure investment and job development

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Dec 23, 2013, 10:49 ET

GAHANNA, Ohio, Dec. 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- AEP Ohio, a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), filed with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) its Electric Security Plan (ESP) for rate adjustments beginning in June 2015. The company's proposal asks for continued support of its distribution infrastructure investment efforts and the opportunity to create new jobs under a skilled workforce and veteran initiative. It also outlines the expectation for market-based rates to decrease for customers who receive their generation supply through AEP Ohio during the term of the plan.

The plan, proposed to begin on June 1, 2015 and last through May 31, 2018, was filed early in order to provide customers, auction participants and competitive retail electric service (CRES) providers with advance knowledge of the company's proposed auction schedule. It is the company's intent that this information will help CRES providers develop more offers to benefit consumers.

"Filing our plan early allows AEP Ohio to share auction information with CRES providers and other interested parties so that consumer-benefiting programs and offers can be created," said Pablo Vegas, AEP Ohio president and chief operating officer. "This filing also fulfills the Commission's objective for a full transition to market and continues AEP Ohio's efforts to improve reliability, while lowering overall electricity costs."

The plan projects an average 9 percent decrease in rates over the three-year term of the plan for customers who receive their generation through AEP Ohio. For customers who shop for their generation supply, AEP Ohio expects rates to remain flat. For the average AEP Ohio residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) per month, approval of the plan would result in a decrease in a customer's total monthly bill of approximately $9 or 8 percent starting in June 2015. These estimates are based on current auction trends.

In its request, AEP Ohio is asking the PUCO to continue its Distribution Investment Rider (DIR) to support continued reliability improvements and to approve the development of a Sustained and Skilled Workforce Rider that will allow AEP Ohio to recover the incremental costs associated with the creation of new jobs with a focus on hiring military veterans.

The PUCO is expected to deliver an opinion and order on the company's ESP in the summer of 2014.

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

American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5.3 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation's largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation's largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 40,000-mile network that includes more 765-kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEP's transmission system 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 eastern Canada, and approximately 11 percent of the electricity demand in ERCOT, the transmission system that covers much of Texas. AEP's utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas). AEP's headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio.