Pressured by Customer Advocates, PUCO Orders Audit of OVEC Utilities

This week, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) ordered an independent audit of American Electric Power (AEP) of Ohio, Duke Energy Ohio, and AES Ohio’s (formerly DP&L) revenues and customer charge-offs for the Ohio Valley Electric Corporation (OVEC).

As reported by Hannah News Service, the PUCO audit was spurred by a request from the Office of Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC) to ensure more transparency in the OVEC subsidies authorized by House Bill 6. A final audit report is due by Friday, Dec. 17.

Meanwhile, the OMA continues to press for approval of Senate Bill 117, offered by Sens. Mark Romanchuk (R-Mansfield) and Hercel Craig (D-Columbus) to permanently repeal HB 6’s OVEC subsidies and refund all charges collected since the bill became law. 5/6/2021