Gahanna, Ohio — AEP Ohio filed an update at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) showing that its Data Center Tariff is working as designed to ensure new infrastructure investments are right-sized and all costs are allocated to data centers, protecting residential, commercial and industrial customers across Ohio.
AEP Ohio's filing updates the energy load for which data centers were willing to sign binding contracts and provide collateral. As of February 12, 2026, data centers or data center developers have signed binding contracts with AEP Ohio for 5,642 megawatts (MW). This update also will be shared with PJM, the regional transmission organization that coordinates operating the grid across 13 states, including Ohio, and the District of Columbia.
The 5,642 MW of data center contracts signed under the Data Center Tariff is in addition to 12,219 MW of data center contracts signed before the tariff went into effect. In total, AEP Ohio now has 17,861 MW of contracted data center projects. These contracted data center projects are scheduled to come online progressively through 2035. For context, peak demand across all AEP Ohio customers has ranged between approximately 8,000 and 10,500 MW.
This contracted figure represents an important step in Ohio's data center development and ensures only the appropriate infrastructure will be built to serve data centers in AEP Ohio's service territory. Prior to the PUCO's approval of AEP Ohio's Data Center Tariff, data centers or developers had submitted requests for 30,000 MW, an unprecedented electricity demand for the state.
As a regulated utility, AEP Ohio has an obligation to serve all customers. AEP Ohio recognized that infrastructure investments required to serve that demand would likewise be unprecedented. Prior to AEP Ohio's Data Center Tariff, data centers would not have been required to commit to their projections and would have had limited financial repercussions if they did not use the amount of electricity they said they needed. Because of the magnitude of energy — and infrastructure — data centers requested, AEP Ohio paused new data center development in its service territory and developed the Data Center Tariff to require more accurate estimates from data centers and to put both safeguards and financial incentives in place to protect Ohio residents and businesses. The PUCO approved AEP Ohio's Data Center Tariff last summer.
This filing shows the new tariff is working.
When required to make financial commitments under the Data Center Tariff, more speculative or uncertain data center projects did not sign contracts, effectively filtering them out — as the tariff was designed to do. The tariff also requires data center owners to demonstrate financial viability and includes an exit fee if a project is canceled or fails to meet its contractual obligations during the term of the electric service agreement, which further helps protect all other AEP Ohio customers from paying costs associated with these data center projects.
"Getting accurate estimates from our data center customers is critical because it gives us the clarity to plan and align infrastructure investment," AEP Ohio President & COO Marc Reitter said. "We filed the tariff with one goal: to protect businesses and residents across Ohio."
Among other features, the tariff requires increasing financial and legal commitments by data center customers at various steps of the process to refine their estimates of the electricity they need. This right-sizes the grid infrastructure upgrades needed to bring electricity to data centers and protects other customers across Ohio — including residents, municipalities, small businesses and other commercial and industrial companies — from paying for an overbuilt system based on inaccurate estimates.
For context, before the PUCO approved the tariff last summer, data center customers had told AEP Ohio they estimated needing more than 30,000 MW of electricity. Step one of the Data Center Tariff process gave 45 days for these data center customers to submit a request for AEP Ohio to conduct a formal engineering study of their project. Of the initial 30,000 MW that expressed interest prior to the PUCO's adoption of the Data Center Tariff, 13,022.7 MW asked and paid for a study.
In step two of the process, AEP Ohio provided prospective data center customers with a timeline for providing service and the collateral required to support new infrastructure investments. AEP Ohio then presented data center customers with service plans and legally binding agreements — with strict financial commitments — for electric service. Data centers and developers then had 60 days to sign. This step, which required the most significant financial and legal commitments for data centers, further reduced the 13,022.7 MW to the 5,642 MW AEP Ohio reported.
This process will continue. AEP Ohio continues to receive requests for new data center projects across the state and will study each project before determining what infrastructure would be needed to serve it. Data centers or data center developers will then have to decide if they will commit to those projects both legally and financially.
For more information, including links to prior PUCO filings, visit AEP Ohio's Data Center Tariff webpage.
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About AEP Ohio
AEP Ohio is based in Gahanna, Ohio, and is a unit of American Electric Power. AEP Ohio provides electricity to 1.5 million customers across 61 counties. News and information about AEP Ohio can be found at AEPOhio.com.
About AEP
American Electric Power (Nasdaq: AEP) is committed to improving our customers' lives with reliable, affordable power. We expect to invest $72 billion from 2026 through 2030 to enhance service for customers and support the growing energy needs of our communities. Our nearly 17,000 employees operate and maintain the nation's largest electric transmission system with 40,000 line miles, along with more than 252,000 miles of distribution lines to deliver energy to 5.6 million customers in 11 states. AEP also is one of the nation's largest electricity producers with approximately 30,000 megawatts of diverse owned and contracted generating capacity. We are focused on safety and operational excellence, creating value for our stakeholders and bringing opportunity to our service territory through economic development and community engagement. Our family of companies includes AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana, east Texas and the Texas Panhandle). AEP also owns AEP Energy, which provides innovative competitive energy solutions nationwide. AEP is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. For more information, visit aep.com.