Some AES Ohio customers will soon see a credit on their electric bill after the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio ordered the utility to refund more than $11 million.
The PUCO ruled that AES Ohio earned an excessive return on equity in 2019, approving a staff calculation that found the utility’s 15.61% return exceeded allowable levels.
As a result, the commission ordered the company to refund a total of $11,060,705 to customers.
The refunds will be issued as a one-time credit on customers’ monthly electric bills.
While the amount each customer will receive has not yet been determined, the refunds will be distributed by customer class based on utility revenues from 2018 and 2019.
Residential customers will receive about 62.7% of the total refund, followed by commercial customers at 21.13%, industrial customers at 8.68%, local governments at 7.46%, and railroads at 0.02%.
AES Ohio has been ordered to file updated tariffs with the commission by July 15 and apply the one-time bill credits during the next applicable billing cycle.
The company will also notify customers about the refunds through a bill insert.
The order stems from a review of AES Ohio’s 2019 earnings and follows a remand directing the commission to recalculate the utility’s return on equity.
