Ohio PUCO data center default service notice order (2026)

Ohio — PUCO Order Requiring Data Centers to Give AEP Ohio 180 Days' Notice Before Returning to Default Service (August 2026)
Ohio · Pub. Utils. Comm'n of Ohio, Order re AEP Ohio data center default service notice (Aug. 2026)

Status
In effect
Took effect
August 5, 2026
Applies to
Data center customers of AEP Ohio contemplating a return to default service, who must give 180 days' notice; AEP Ohio in procuring the associated energy separately.
Enforced by
Public Utilities Commission of Ohio

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio ordered AEP Ohio to put protections in place against data center energy costs falling on other customers. The mechanism addresses a specific and easily overlooked risk: a data center that has been buying power on the competitive market can decide to return to the utility's default service, and if it does so without warning, the utility must find that energy on short notice — at whatever price the market happens to be, with the cost landing on everyone. Under the order, data centers must give AEP Ohio 180 days' notice of an intent to return to default service, and AEP Ohio will then secure the energy through separate auctions or spot-market purchases rather than folding it into the general supply. This builds on the tariff PUCO ordered in July 2025, under which data center customers above 25 megawatts must pay for at least 85% of their subscribed monthly capacity for twelve years, with a four-year ramp-up and an exit fee equal to three years of minimum charges. Ohio has been among the most active states on data center cost allocation, and the 2025 tariff was widely treated as a national template.

Who is protected: AEP Ohio default service customers, protected from bearing short-notice energy procurement costs when a large data center load returns to default service.

Legal detail

Public Utilities Commission of Ohio order, reported August 5, 2026, directing AEP Ohio to implement protections against data center energy costs being borne by other customers. OPERATIVE MECHANISM: data centers must provide AEP Ohio 180 days' notice of intent to RETURN TO DEFAULT SERVICE; AEP Ohio will then secure the energy to serve that customer through separate auctions or spot-market purchases rather than through general default service procurement. Risk addressed: an unannounced return to default service by a very large load forces short-notice procurement at prevailing prices, with the cost socialised across the default service class — a switching risk distinct from the initial interconnection and minimum-take questions. BUILDS ON the PUCO order of July 9, 2025 (indexed as oh-public-utility-commission-...-aep-ohio-data-ce, eff. 2025-07-09) adopting a settlement among AEP Ohio, PUCO staff, the Ohio Consumers' Counsel and others, under which data center customers above 25 MW must pay for at least 85% of subscribed monthly capacity for 12 years, with a 4-year ramp-up and an exit fee equal to three years' minimum charges. Case number for the 2026 order not obtained; effective_date recorded as the reporting date and should be confirmed against the PUCO docket.

Key facts

JurisdictionOhio
LevelState
StrengthModerate
EnactedAugust 5, 2026
CitationPub. Utils. Comm'n of Ohio, Order re AEP Ohio data center default service notice (Aug. 2026)
Private right of actionNo, agency enforcement only
PenaltiesEnforced through the approved tariff and service terms
Topicsdata-center siting and energy · consumer protection · government use of AI
Agency pagePUCO orders AEP Ohio to create data center specific tariff — Public Utilities Commission of Ohio

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Related data-center siting and energy rules elsewhere

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