COLUMBUS, Ohio, Feb. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- AEP Ohio, a
unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), filed today with the
Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) new proposed tariffs that continue
the provisions, terms and conditions of the company's previous
Electric Security Plan (ESP) as ordered by the PUCO Feb. 23.
The new tariffs reflect the full cost of fuel, carrying costs
for environmental investments, the remaining cost of fuel charges
deferred and capped in previous years, and the removal of riders
previously approved under the stipulation agreement. The new rates,
once approved by the PUCO, will have varying impacts for customers.
Many customers will see slightly lower rates, while some customers,
particularly industrial and manufacturing customers, will see
increases.
Today's filing proposes rates and tariffs for two rate zones to
reflect the pre-merger service territories of Ohio Power and
Columbus Southern Power (CSP). As
ordered, rates for all customer classes will return to rates
charged as of December 2011. Due to
the elimination of the stipulation agreement, rates charged to
customers in the Ohio Power rate zone will include the portion of
the actual cost of fuel used in previous years but deferred for
later cost recovery.
For the average residential customer in the Ohio Power rate zone
using 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per month, approval of the rates
would result in a decrease in a customer's total monthly bill of
approximately $1.78 or 1.5 percent
compared with bills charged in January and February of this year.
For the average residential customer in the CSP rate zone using
1,000 kWh per month, approval of these rates would result in a
decrease of approximately $5.37 or
4.3 percent when compared with January and February 2012. These averages are based on
customers who receive their generation, transmission and
distribution service through AEP Ohio. Estimates cannot be given
for any customer who has selected a competitive retail generation
supplier. Actual percentage changes in bills will vary for
individual customers depending on their energy usage.
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 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 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
39,000-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.
SOURCE AEP Ohio