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Greene County commissioners approve resolution urging PUCO to deny AES Ohio, CenterPoint rate increases
Summary
The Greene County Board of Commissioners on March 6 approved a resolution urging the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio not to approve requested distribution-rate increases from AES Ohio and CenterPoint, after staff said the proposals could raise the average county household's bills by about $22–$23 per month.
The Greene County Board of Commissioners on March 6 approved a resolution urging the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) not to approve proposed distribution-rate increases requested by AES Ohio and CenterPoint.
County staff told commissioners that, if the cases are approved as filed, the average Greene County customer would see about a $23-per-month increase on a CenterPoint bill and about $22 per month on an AES bill. Staff said the cases are pending before PUCO and public hearings were being scheduled but had not yet occurred.
The resolution, which the board moved to approve during the meeting, directs the county to submit its opposition to PUCO based on the projected impact to local ratepayers. Commissioners discussed that some of the companies' requests are intended to pay for added capacity driven in part by large electricity users such as data centers and the expected growth of electric-vehicle charging. Several commissioners said they were concerned those costs would be spread across all customers rather than borne more directly by the large users driving the need for new capacity.
County staff explained that the utilities' cases break out transmission and distribution costs but argued the proposed increases would nonetheless be allocated across the full customer base. Commissioners discussed alternative charge structures — for example, infrastructure or startup charges tied to the specific new connections — but did not adopt any specific local policy changes during the meeting.
The board voted to approve the resolution; the record shows the motion and a second were made and the ayes carried. The resolution will be forwarded to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
A copy of the resolution was not attached to the meeting transcript; the staff remarks recorded the projected average dollar impacts and the procedural status of the PUCO hearings.
