FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 4, 2026
PRESS CONTACT: Morgan Harper, morgan@columbusstandup.org 614 600 8710
Ahead of AEP’s earnings call, a regional coalition of AEP ratepayers and renewable energy workers blasts the utility monopoly for raising consumer prices while announcing huge profits and CEO payout. On Tuesday, May 5, American Electric Power Company Inc. (AEP) will host its Q1 earnings conference call. AEP is estimating 2026 operating earnings that would amount to a recent year record for profits, as families and small businesses across Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia continue facing rising utility bills that fund AEP’s CEO compensation package.1 In 2025 this was the highest of any other investor owned utility in the nation and included access to a private jet for friends and family.
The CEO of Ohio-based American Electric Power (AEP), Bill Fehrman, was the industry’s highest-paid CEO in 2025, earning $36.6 million. It would take the average worker in Ohio 550 years to earn what Fehrman made last year, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Fehrman’s job perks included free personal use of the AEP’s corporate aircraft, which the company valued at $140,507 for last year. Fehrman’s 2025 pay was a $23.3 million increase over the previous year.
In anticipation of the call, a regional coalition of organizations across AEP’s footprint, including Columbus Stand Up!, Green Workers Alliance (GWA), United Ratepayers, People’s Action Institute, Virginia Organizing, and WV Citizen Action, is calling for transparency, accountability, and an end to rate hike approvals for monopoly utilities.
“While AEP collects exorbitant profits and pays their CEO millions, consumers struggle to keep the lights on and foot the bill for AEP’s excessive profits,” said Morgan Harper, Executive Director, Columbus Stand Up, “We are proud to join a regional coalition of ratepayers and renewable energy workers to demand that public utility commissions and governors in AEP’s service territory put a stop their profiteering off a low-risk public good like electricity.”
“I am an AEP customer, and I have worked in the solar field for several years. I’ve seen my electricity costs jump, and I know we need more affordable energy from solar power for AEP customers. AEP must lower costs and create local jobs by using more renewable energy!” said Stephanie Holsinger, GWA member, Portsmouth, OH.
“Anyone truly interested in lowering utility bills and ending utility debt for working families would stop building expensive and dirty gas plants,” said Victoria Kaplan, spokesperson for United Ratepayers and People’s Action Institute. “Clean, renewable energy is cheaper and more reliable–the sun doesn’t need to get through the Strait of Hormuz.”
“All across Virginia, people struggle to keep up with the rising costs of food, medical care, and utilities. It’s very disappointing that many of the legislative bills that would have made energy more affordable, while also holding utility companies accountable, failed to pass the Virginia General Assembly. The message to Virginians is clear: profits matter more than people. We will continue pushing our legislators to look out for the average citizen by lowering rates and capping profits on essential services,” said Brandy Faulkner of the Virginia Organizing State Governing Board.
Recent proposed legislation in Virginia would have prohibited the public utility commission from increasing the rate of return of AEP subsidiary Appalachian Power Company (ApCo) unless the utility could show an increase would not affect customer affordability. The bill also sought to improve how regulators determine reasonable rates of return. The legislation followed an inquiry from state legislators to the public utility commission in 2025, asking what the procedure was for revoking a utility’s monopoly status.
“I am 96 years old with a monthly income of $1,100. My AEP electric bill ranged from $507 and $751 between December 2025 and March 2026. While I received energy assistance this year, a large portion was left up to me. If it weren’t for my children’s help, I couldn’t heat my home or use my oxygen [tank]” said Gladys Johnson, ApCo/AEP ratepayer and member of the Virginia Organizing Wythe County Chapter.
Specifically, the coalition is calling for AEP to dramatically increase investments in renewable sources like solar and wind, the lowest-cost and fastest-to-deploy energy sources. AEP generated only 23% of its electricity from renewable sources such as solar, wind, hydro and battery storage in 2025. The coalition is also urging state utility commissions and Governors DeWine, Spanberger, and Morrissey with jurisdiction over AEP to stop approving rate hikes and protect Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia customers and small businesses’ hard-earned money from Wall Street.
Utility monopolies like AEP earn profits not by competing in a market, but by securing rate increases approved by public utility commissioners that guarantee their returns on investments, infrastructure, and capital spending. A recent report estimates that monopoly utilities extract roughly $50 billion in excess returns annually, costing households an average of nearly $500 per year. Another recent report by the Energy and Policy Institute found that U.S. electric utilities collected more than $200 billion in profits from their customers between 2021 and 2024. Nearly
13 cents of every dollar collected from electric bills went straight to their coffers. In 2025, preliminary data indicate that profit share has increased to 14.6 cents of every dollar.
The public is taking notice. A recent Consumer Reports survey found that 49% of households attribute rising home energy costs to utility company profits, and a Groundwork Collaborative/Data for Progress poll found that 63% of voters say these profits are responsible for the electricity costs they pay–reflecting growing public concern. This is a perception reinforced by executive compensation trends, including AEP’s $36.6 million compensation package for CEO Bill Fehrman in 2025, the highest among utility CEOs last year by a significant margin.
Just this year, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) approved AEP Ohio’s rate request just two weeks after PUCO handed AEP a separate rate adjustment. Together, these changes could lead the average residential bill to increase by about $18 per month by 2028.2 In the name of profit, AEP and its subsidiaries nickel and dime consumers, workers, and small businesses through repeated rate cases–seeking approval to increase customer charges that lock in guaranteed returns for shareholders while shifting financial risk onto everyday ratepayers.
In 2025, Appalachian Power Company (ApCO), a subsidiary of AEP, requested a $250 million base rate increase in West Virginia. The Public Service Commission (PSC) approved a $76.1 million rate increase, with new rates taking effect on August 28, 2025. The original AEP proposal sought to eliminate solar net metering credits. Breaking a record for public comment, over 5000 ApCo customers submitted comments on the case. Now, less than a year later, Appalachian Power has filed a notice of intent to ask for another rate increase.
All this is happening while AEP ratepayers are being forced to bail out money-losing and scandal-plagued coal plants. In Indiana and West Virginia, AEP customers have been paying hundreds of millions of dollars for power from two uneconomical coal plants that were at the center of a massive federal bribery case in Ohio.
Columbus Stand Up! is a grassroots organization seeking to engage working class people of all ages in the electoral process, support the building of stable and healthy communities, and to hold elected officials accountable.
The Green Workers Alliance (GWA) mobilizes renewable energy workers to win more and better jobs in the sector. With more than 1,800 members in the utility-scale solar and wind fields, we provide training and leadership development, assistance with job searches, and advice and support on workplace issues. The Green Workers Alliance is a project of PowerSwitch Action.
The People’s Action Institute is a proud national network of 38 member-based, power-building organizations in 29 states with more than a million members and tens of thousands of national volunteers. We are from every background, speak many languages, and live in small towns, cities and rural areas. Together we advance a long-term agenda for racial, economic, and gender justice by investing in powerful state and local organizations and campaigns that win real change in people’s lives.
United Ratepayers includes 14 member groups organizing for affordable energy for all; 100% clean, renewable power; reliable power; and accountability and fairness. Across the country, thousands of ratepayers are coming together to push back on for-profit utilities and build the energy future we deserve. When we act together, we win.
Virginia Organizing is a non-partisan statewide grassroots organization dedicated to challenging injustice by empowering people in local communities to address issues that affect the quality of their lives. The organization especially encourages the participation of those who have traditionally had little or no voice in our society. Virginia Organizing brings people together to create a more just Virginia.
The West Virginia Citizen Action Group (WV CAG) advocates for and organizes around better public policy, individual rights, a clean environment, and a stronger democratic process. Learn more at www.wvcag.org.
1 AEP’s annual operating Earnings Per Share (EPS) from 2022 to 2024 ranged from $5.09 to $5.62:
https://www.aep.com/sustainability/performance/
Their operating EPS for 2025 was $5.97: https://www.aep.com/news/stories/view/10752/
The company is estimating EPS of $6.15-$6.45 for 2026: https://docs.aep.com/docs/investors/eventspresentationsandwebcasts/Mar_2026_Investor_Handout.pdf
2 The distribution rate change approved on April 1 could lead the average residential customer’s rates to increase by $10.28 a month by 2028:
https://theoec.org/news-and-information/statement-on-pucos-approval-of-aep-ohios-distribution-rate-increase/
The transmission rate change approved on March 18 will increase the average residential bill by about $7.90 a month:
https://www.10tv.com/article/news/local/ohio/aep-ohio-rate-approval-price-increase-residents/530-e17f68c4-717f-4ca6-94ba-bd8093597a27