Ohio Supreme Court approves AEP’s 2012 fee pricing structure

COLUMBUS (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court today upheld a pricing structure for fees that competitors must pay to American Electric Power as the utility transitions to a competitive market.

The court sided with a 2012 decision by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to set the fee at $188.88 per megawatt-day.

The decision also upholds the requirement that AEP charge suppliers a lower market-based price.

AEP had objected to the $188.88 rate, arguing that it was too low to recover its actual costs to provide capacity, or the cost of maintaining a generating plant. The utility wanted to charge suppliers $355 per megawatt-day.

The Ohio Consumers Counsel, which represents utility consumers, had challenged PUCO’s authority to approve the capacity charge and to defer the recovery of capacity costs.

The court by a 5-2 vote rejected both challenges.