AEP Ohio earns PUCO approval for third phase of smart grid expansion

Work will proceed on the third phase of AEP Ohio’s more than $220 million, seven-year plan to modernize its grid after a settlement in the affiliated case was approved this week by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO).

While more than 900,000 smart meters were already installed across the utility’s service area in phases 1 and 2 of the plan, phase 3 will see it roll out another 475,000 smart meters across Ohio. As a result, the average residential customer using 1,000 kW hours of electricity each month will see an approximately $0.33 raise on monthly bills, but the trade-off will be more detailed energy usage information and the ability for the meters themselves to remotely detect and report outage information to AEP Ohio.

“We have been building our smart grid network for almost a decade, and we are excited to expand these technologies to all of our customers,” AEP Ohio President and COO Marc Reitter said. “Smart technologies allow the men and women at AEP Ohio to deliver more reliable power, give our customers more information about their energy use, and saves them money.”

While the smart meters are a definite focus, other efforts will also be deployed due to this plan, including the voltage monitoring and control system known as Volt Var Optimization and additional energy saving programs. The latter’s case will include rebates for qualifying equipment, increased impactfulness of time of use rates, bill assistance, and more.

This smart grid modernization effort is focused on rural areas to guarantee greater equity of access among the company’s customers. A settlement was reached between AEP Ohio, PUCO staff, the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, industrial user groups, the Ohio Hospital Association, competitive retail electric suppliers, the Smart Thermostat Coalition, and Mission:data