A recent ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals will save AEP Ohio and AES Ohio ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars on their electric bills. The ruling stemmed from a complaint made by the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel.
At issue was whether Ohio’s electric utilities could receive an “adder”, essentially a bump-up on their regulated profits from owning electric transmission lines, for being a member of the PJM Regional Transmission Organization. The adder was intended as an incentive for monopoly electric utilities to join regional electric markets.
However, Ohio requires our utilities to join regional markets by law, rendering the incentive meaningless and unlawful. The case highlights yet again how millions of dollars of costs can be buried and hidden in electric bills, with no benefit to the customer. 1/22/2024