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AEP Ohio Transmission Charges (BTCR) Explained

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The short answer

AEP Ohio recovers its transmission costs through the Basic Transmission Cost Rider (BTCR), a charge every customer pays whether or not they buy power from a competitive supplier. The underlying costs come from FERC-approved formula rates and are updated each spring, with occasional mid-year adjustments. In 2025, updates shifted non-residential transmission charges from kWh toward demand (kW), which raised costs for accounts with sharp peaks. The April 2026 update moved most non-residential components only modestly. From October 2026, transmission appears as its own section on the redesigned bill, issued under AEP Ohio's legal name, Ohio Power Company.

Where transmission costs come from

Transmission is the high-voltage network that moves power from generators to local substations. AEP's transmission companies recover their costs through formula rates approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. PJM collects those costs as network transmission service charges for the AEP zone, and AEP Ohio passes them to customers through the BTCR under a PUCO-approved rider.

Several things push the revenue requirement up:

  • Replacement of aging lines and substations.
  • New load, including data centers in central Ohio, which requires new substations and lines. AEP Ohio's data center tariff requires large new loads to commit to minimum payments, but the transmission investment itself still enters the formula rates.
  • Regional projects that PJM assigns to zones, including AEP's.

The update is a standard annual true-up, not a rate case. It does not require PUCO to reopen AEP Ohio's distribution rates.

How the BTCR is billed

Customer type How the BTCR appears
Residential Per kWh
Non-demand general service Per kWh
Demand-metered general service (secondary, primary, subtransmission, transmission voltage) A kWh (energy) component plus a kW (demand) component based on monthly billing demand
Transmission pilot participants Demand charges based on the account's share of the AEP zone's single annual peak (network service peak load), not monthly billing demand

The kWh-versus-kW split matters. An account with a high load factor (steady load) pays mostly through the energy component. An account with sharp peaks, such as a facility that starts all its equipment at once, pays relatively more through the demand component.

What changed in 2025 and 2026

The following figures come from an Ohio energy consultant's summaries of AEP Ohio's filings. Check your own rate schedule's tariff sheet for exact values.

Effective Change
April 1, 2025 Non-residential demand components up about 3% to 27% depending on schedule; non-residential energy components down about 24%; residential down about 19%; pilot demand charges up about 9%
October 1, 2025 Mid-year update: non-demand secondary service up about 9.4%; secondary demand-metered accounts saw the kWh component down about 5% and the demand component up about 7.8%; general service transmission-voltage accounts saw the largest decreases
April 1, 2026 Non-residential energy components down about 7%; secondary demand down about 1% and primary demand up about 1%; general service transmission-voltage down about 6%; pilot demand charges up about 9%. Residential rose about 0.79¢/kWh, or about $7.90 a month at 1,000 kWh

So the "transmission increase" many businesses noticed in 2025 depended on rate schedule and load shape. A peaky secondary-voltage account could see its transmission charges rise even while the rider's kWh rates fell. In 2026 the pattern reversed for residential customers, whose charges rose while most non-residential components edged down; the consultant's summary tied part of that to growth in non-residential load, including data centers.

Illustrative only. Say a secondary demand-metered account paid $1,000 a month in BTCR demand charges and $300 in BTCR energy charges before October 2025. The October changes (+7.8% demand, −5% energy) would add about $78 and subtract about $15, for a net of about $63 a month, or roughly $756 a year, with no change in usage.

The transmission pilot

AEP Ohio's pilot bills demand-based transmission costs on an account's contribution to the zone's single annual peak. That rewards loads that can stay off during that hour. AEP Ohio expanded the pilot by 100 MW per program year through May 31, 2028, with enrollment for the April 2026 start opening December 1, 2025 on a first-come, first-served basis. It suits non-weather-sensitive loads, off-peak operations, and sites that can reliably shed load on peak days.

It is not free money. A PUCO-retained auditor found in February 2025 that the pilot shifted some costs from participants to non-participants, and recommended extending its rate design to all demand-metered general service customers in phases (Case 24-0493-EL-RDR). Check that case's status before planning around the pilot.

Reading transmission on the new bill

PUCO's April 2026 order in AEP Ohio's rate case approved a redesigned bill that groups charges into three sections: distribution, transmission and generation. In the illustration published with the approval, a typical bill split roughly 31% distribution, 21% transmission and 48% generation; commercial accounts will differ by load shape and voltage. The redesign arrives with the October 1, 2026 switch to the Ohio Power Company name (website OhioPowerCo.com). The name change does not change rates.

To check your transmission charges:

  1. Find your rate schedule code and voltage on the bill.
  2. In the transmission section, note the kWh and kW charges and the billing demand used.
  3. Multiply by the rates on AEP Ohio's current tariff sheet for your schedule, and confirm the math.
  4. Compare the same month a year earlier to separate rate changes from usage changes.

If you buy from a supplier, the generation section shows the supplier's charges; transmission stays in the utility's section either way.

How to limit transmission costs

  • Lower your monthly billing demand. Stagger equipment start-ups, use demand controls, and investigate spikes in your interval data.
  • Evaluate the pilot if your load can be kept off at the zone's annual peak.
  • Confirm your rate schedule and service voltage after each tariff update.
  • Budget for April. Build the annual BTCR update into your spring forecast.

Line-by-line layouts for each utility are covered in how to interpret an Ohio energy bill, and billing disputes in decoding Ohio commercial electricity bills. For other non-shoppable charges that moved in 2025–2026, see hidden costs on Ohio bills. For how transmission combines with supply and distribution changes, see the true cost of Ohio rate increases. For AEP Ohio's distribution case and other utilities' cases, see Ohio utility rate cases in 2026. Service-area context is on the AEP Ohio page.

FAQ

What is AEP Ohio's Basic Transmission Cost Rider?

It is the rider AEP Ohio uses to recover the cost of the high-voltage transmission system from its customers. The costs come from FERC-approved formula rates and are updated annually, with occasional mid-year adjustments.

Can I avoid the BTCR by switching suppliers?

No. AEP Ohio bills transmission to every customer regardless of supplier. Only the generation portion of the bill changes when you shop.

Why did my transmission charges rise when some BTCR rates fell?

Demand-metered accounts pay both a kWh and a kW component. In 2025 the demand components rose while the kWh components fell, so accounts with sharp peaks paid more even though some published rates went down.

Where will transmission appear on the new Ohio Power Company bill?

In its own transmission section, separate from distribution and generation. The format was approved in AEP Ohio's 2026 rate case and arrives with the October 1, 2026 name change.

Sources

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