01/09/2025

AEP Reaches Settlement with Ohio Regulators on Smart Grid Plan

If approved, the upgrades will cost the average resident another 22 cents a month

AEP Ohio, an American Electric Power (AEP) company, filed a stipulation with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to approve its latest plan for improving power grid reliability and resiliency, and for preventing or shortening outages. The stipulation was agreed to by AEP Ohio, the PUCO's staff, Ohio Energy Group (OEG), the Ohio Energy Leadership Committee (OELC) and the Ohio Manufacturers Association Energy Group (OMEAG.)

The plan includes installing or upgrading distribution automation circuit reconfiguration (DACR) technologies on up to 412 circuits throughout AEP Ohio's 61-county service territory. AEP Ohio has previously installed DACR technology that it says has prevented 41 million minutes of customer interruptions.

DACR uses technology that detects a power outage and automatically reroutes the power in an effort to minimize the number of people affected. Crews are also meant to be able to pinpoint what needs to be repaired to restore power, which could reduce the time spent diagnosing an outage's cause.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Power Grid.