$16 Billion in Cost Offsets Help Keep Power Affordable for Customers
As electricity demand grows across the country, we are intensely focused on affordability for our customers. We’re Powering Fairness by investing to support that growth while putting in place strong protections for current customers.
Large customers are paying for grid infrastructure that serves them through agreements with our operating companies and innovative rate structures. These agreements are expected to offset up to $16 billion in costs for existing customers over the life of the contracts. The rate structures are designed in a way that large load customers are financially responsible for the power that they sign up for. Together, the agreements and rate structures ensure they pay their fair share.
This new large load growth will help reduce pressure on residential bills, not increase it. Residential customers will pay a smaller share of fixed costs as large customers come online.
New investments for this growing load also mean more reliable service. Over the past year, we’ve cut the average length of outages by 10% across AEP’s operating companies. Fewer outages mean fewer disruptions and greater confidence in the power system customers depend on every day.
We’re also closely managing costs for our operations and maintenance. As we do work that reduces outages, such as replacing aging equipment, we are leveraging new technologies, like drone inspections, to speed up work and reduce costs. This use of innovative technology and cost discipline helps keep rates lower.
We’re also leveraging federal funding to reduce costs for customers. So far, AEP has secured $315 million in federal grants and a $1.6 billion federal loan for transmission projects. These programs provide meaningful relief to customers, saving nearly $600 million and supporting efforts to strengthen the electric grid.
AEP is Powering Fairness – supporting historic growth while delivering reliable power, protecting affordability and making sure all of our stakeholders benefit.