Question reviewed
Answer
Verdict on the wording above: Partially supported Independent evidence supports part of the claim; the rest is unknown or unsupported. The full statement is not thereby false. How verdicts work →
- How it was framed
- A question DataCenterData examined; no one is quoted.
- What the evidence establishes
- The PUCO-approved AEP Ohio tariff allocates substantial underuse and cancellation risk to new loads over 25 MW. The part not covered stays unknown or unsupported; the full statement is not thereby false.
- Biggest limitation
- Whether generation, transmission, capacity-market, wholesale-market or pre-tariff contracts can affect household bills remains a separate question from this tariff arithmetic. The saved record holds the tariff sheets and the PUCO docket listing, not a PUCO or Ohio Consumers' Counsel analysis of household bill effects and not the text of the 5 August 2026 order or the 30 September 2026 entry on rehearing.
- Checked
- 3 November 2026 · Next review: PUCO rider, transmission-cost or rate-case filings that quantify residential allocation · History (4) →
Evidence
What the evidence supports
The PUCO-approved AEP Ohio tariff allocates substantial underuse and cancellation risk to new loads over 25 MW. PUCO describes the concern as cost shifting from significant transmission infrastructure and other underused investment serving data centers. These protections are real, but the reviewed sources do not prove that residents can never be affected by generation, transmission, capacity-market, wholesale-market or pre-tariff costs. The current Schedule DCT sheets (Ohio Power Company tariff P.U.C.O. No. 22, 1st Revised Sheets 223-1 to 223-8, issued and effective 28 August 2026 under the Commission's 1 April 2026 rate-case order and its 5 August 2026 order in Case No. 26-113-EL-ATA) set the minimum demand for new load after the ramp period at 15,000 kW plus 85% of the amount over 25,000 kW (25,001 to 75,000 kW) and 57,500 kW plus 100% of the amount over 75,000 kW, capped at 85% of total contract capacity; from that table DataCenterData calculates a minimum of about 72.5% at 50 MW and 82.5% at 100 MW, and a separate ratchet on the highest billing demand of the past 11 months can produce a higher billed demand. New-load contracts run for the load ramp period plus 8 years. Sheet 223-5 carries the interim standard-service-offer procedures the Commission granted on 5 August 2026: a Schedule DCT customer returning to the standard service offer must give 180 days' notice, AEP Ohio runs a separate procurement for that load at the customer's full cost, and if notice is not given AEP Ohio assigns the full cost of PJM spot-market purchases solely to that customer. The PUCO docket lists a 30 September 2026 entry denying the applications for rehearing of that order. AEP reports that 12,219 of 17,861 MW of contracted data-center projects were signed before the tariff took effect; contracted projects are not current measured load.
(DataCenterData calculation from AEP published formula: 15,000 kW plus 85% above 25,000 kW up to 75,000 kW; 57,500 kW plus 100% above 75,000 kW; capped at 85% of contract capacity.)
Still unknown
Whether generation, transmission, capacity-market, wholesale-market or pre-tariff contracts can affect household bills remains a separate question from this tariff arithmetic. The saved record holds the tariff sheets and the PUCO docket listing, not a PUCO or Ohio Consumers' Counsel analysis of household bill effects and not the text of the 5 August 2026 order or the 30 September 2026 entry on rehearing.
Sources
-
PUCO approves AEP Ohio data-center tariff → Gov. record
Exact location Paragraphs following Chair Jenifer French's quotation: significant transmission infrastructure and underused-investment cost shifting
What it supports PUCO's stated concern and its rationale for safeguards; not proof that household bills can never be affected.
-
Ohio Consumers' Counsel quick facts → Archived copy Gov. record
Exact location https://occ.ohio.gov/factsheet/quick-facts-data-centers-ohio
What it supports OCC describes the 85% contracted-capacity payment term; it does not prove household bills cannot be affected.
-
AEP Ohio Schedule DCT terms → Archived copy Company
Exact location Minimum Demand Charges, numbered limbs 1-2; Aggregation; Contract Term; Mandatory Process step 3. Tariff effective 2025-07-23; page publication date not established.
What it supports Published Schedule DCT minimum-demand formula. Arithmetic below is DataCenterData's, not an AEP quotation.
-
AEP Ohio Updates PUCO on Data Center Load: Figures Show Tariff is Working (2026-02-13) → Archived copy Company
Exact location 'in addition to 12,219 MW of data center contracts signed before the tariff went into effect'; 'AEP Ohio now has 17,861 MW of contracted data center projects'
What it supports AEP reports contracted quantities, not current consumption.
-
Exact location Schedule DCT (Data Center Tariff), P.U.C.O. No. 22: Sheet 223-4 'Monthly Billing Demand – New load' minimum-demand table and the 85% cap; Sheet 223-5 'Interim Procedures' (180 days' notice, separate procurement at the Customer's full cost, PJM spot-market purchases assigned solely to Customer) and 'Terms of Contract – New Load' (Load Ramp Period plus 8 years); sheet footers 'Filed pursuant to Order dated April 1, 2026 in Case No. 25-392-EL-AIR and August 5, 2026 in Case No. 26113-EL-ATA', 'Issued: August 28, 2026', 'Effective: August 28, 2026'
What it supports The published minimum-demand formula and cap behind DataCenterData's 72.5% and 82.5% arithmetic, the contract term, and the interim standard-service-offer cost channel. A tariff is not a bill: it does not quantify any household effect.
-
PUCO docket record, Case No. 26-0113-EL-ATA (Ohio Power Company) → Gov. record
Exact location Case Documents list: 08/05/2026 'Finding & Order in which the Commission grants Ohio Power Company's request for interim relief regarding the standard service offer process for data center customers'; 08/28/2026 'Revised Tariff Pages, PUCO No. 22, Compliance Tariff'; 09/30/2026 'Entry on Rehearing in which The Commission denies the applications for rehearing filed by Google LLC, Retail Energy Supply Association, and Interstate Gas Supply, LLC.'
What it supports Dates and titles of the interim-relief order, the compliance tariff filing and the rehearing denial. The docket listing is not the order text; neither order’s reasoning is in the saved record.
Corrections and history
Correction · 11 September 2026 · DataCenterData review
Record → Power / rates
Field Power / rates
From The PUCO-approved AEP Ohio tariff allocates substantial underuse and cancellation risk to new loads over 25 MW. That is real protection against stranded distribution investment; it is not proof that generation, transmission or wholesale-market costs can never affect household bills.
To Added how the 85% minimum-demand term works by contract size and AEP's count of pre-tariff contracted load. Verdict unchanged. The 72.5% and 82.5% shares are DataCenterData arithmetic from AEP's published formula (15,000 kW plus 85% above 25,000 kW up to 75,000 kW; 57,500 kW plus 100% above 75,000 kW; capped at 85% of contract capacity).
Evidence https://www.aepohio.com/company/about/rates/data-center-tariff/ →
Correction · 12 September 2026 · Software-assisted second check
Record → Power / rates
Field Power / rates
From Partially supported; framed as stranded distribution investment
To Not independently verified; scope narrowed to AEP Ohio and infrastructure/transmission risk
Why The second review found that the tariff supports risk allocation but not the absolute household-bill conclusion, and PUCO's own description is not limited to distribution.
Evidence re-reading of the sources already cited on this claim; no new source.
Correction · 14 September 2026 · Editorial classification update
Record → Power / rates
Field Power / rates
From Not independently verified
To Partially supported
Why The tariff supports part of the risk-allocation claim, but it does not prove that generation, transmission or wholesale-market costs can never affect household bills.
Evidence re-reading of the sources already cited on this claim; no new source.
Correction · 3 October 2026 · DataCenterData review
Record → Power / rates
Field Power / rates
From The PUCO-approved AEP Ohio tariff allocates substantial underuse and cancellation risk to new loads over 25 MW. PUCO describes the concern as cost shifting from significant transmission infrastructure and other underused investment serving data centers. These protections are real, but the reviewed sources do not prove that residents can never be affected by generation, transmission, wholesale-market or pre-tariff costs. Under AEP's published contract-capacity formula, DataCenterData calculates a minimum of about 72.5% at 50 MW and 82.5% at 100 MW; a separate historical-demand ratchet can produce a higher billed demand. AEP reports that 12,219 of 17,861 MW of contracted data-center projects were signed before the tariff took effect; contracted projects are not current measured load.
To The PUCO-approved AEP Ohio tariff allocates substantial underuse and cancellation risk to new loads over 25 MW. PUCO describes the concern as cost shifting from significant transmission infrastructure and other underused investment serving data centers. These protections are real, but the reviewed sources do not prove that residents can never be affected by generation, transmission, capacity-market, wholesale-market or pre-tariff costs. The current Schedule DCT sheets (Ohio Power Company tariff P.U.C.O. No. 22, 1st Revised Sheets 223-1 to 223-8, issued and effective 28 August 2026 under the Commission's 1 April 2026 rate-case order and its 5 August 2026 order in Case No. 26-113-EL-ATA) set the minimum demand for new load after the ramp period at 15,000 kW plus 85% of the amount over 25,000 kW (25,001 to 75,000 kW) and 57,500 kW plus 100% of the amount over 75,000 kW, capped at 85% of total contract capacity; from that table DataCenterData calculates a minimum of about 72.5% at 50 MW and 82.5% at 100 MW, and a separate ratchet on the highest billing demand of the past 11 months can produce a higher billed demand. New-load contracts run for the load ramp period plus 8 years. Sheet 223-5 carries the interim standard-service-offer procedures the Commission granted on 5 August 2026: a Schedule DCT customer returning to the standard service offer must give 180 days' notice, AEP Ohio runs a separate procurement for that load at the customer's full cost, and if notice is not given AEP Ohio assigns the full cost of PJM spot-market purchases solely to that customer. The PUCO docket lists a 30 September 2026 entry denying the applications for rehearing of that order. AEP reports that 12,219 of 17,861 MW of contracted data-center projects were signed before the tariff took effect; contracted projects are not current measured load.
Why Cited the current Schedule DCT sheets (1st Revised Sheets 223-1 to 223-8, issued and effective 28 August 2026) for the minimum-demand table, the 85% cap and the Load Ramp Period plus 8 years term, and Sheet 223-5 for the interim standard-service-offer procedures; cited the PUCO docket listing for the 5 August 2026 order and the 30 September 2026 rehearing denial. Verdict unchanged. Household-bill, generation, transmission, capacity-market and pre-tariff-contract effects stay open; the missing documents are a PUCO or OCC household-bill analysis and the order texts.
Evidence https://www.aepohio.com/lib/docs/ratesandtariffs/Ohio/October_2026_Ohio_Power_Tariff_Book.pdf →
Review details
Scope
- Unit
- large-load tariff risk allocation and contracted demand
- Geography
- AEP Ohio service territory
- Period
- tariff effective 2025-07-23; revised Schedule DCT sheets issued and effective 2026-08-28; AEP load update 2026-02-13
- Confidence
- medium — PUCO government explanation plus AEP company tariff and load disclosures; absolute household-bill conclusion not established.
- Kind
- Question reviewed
Conflicting evidence
None recorded when this claim was checked. That records what we logged, not a finding that no conflicting record exists.
Chronology
- Published — PUCO approves AEP Ohio data-center tariff
- Published — AEP Ohio Updates PUCO on Data Center Load: Figures Show Tariff is Working (2026-02-13)
- Published — AEP Ohio (Ohio Power Company) tariff book, November 2026: Schedule DCT, 1st Revised Sheets 223-1 to 223-8
- Changed field recorded
- 4 sources retrieved
- Sources re-read (software-assisted second check, not an outside audit)
- Changed verdict recorded
- Changed verdict recorded
- Source retrieved
- Changed field recorded
- Source retrieved
- Checked by DataCenterData
- Date not established Next review: PUCO rider, transmission-cost or rate-case filings that quantify residential allocation
Data
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