In the last year, more Ohio households lost their power because of lack of payment than in previous years, according to an annual report from the state’s six regulated electric utilities filed with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. The leader of the state agency that advocates for ratepayers says that’s a real concern.
From June 2025 to May 2025, 344,589 Ohio households had their electric shut off for not paying. That's an average of 7.7% of customers with AEP Ohio Power, AES Ohio, Duke Energy and the three companies associated with FirstEnergy, which are CEI, Ohio Edison and Toledo Edison.
"We're in an affordability crisis," said Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Maureen Willis. "People are paying more and more for commodities like groceries and gasoline, and they're having to make choices about, should I pay my utility bill or should I pay my medical bill? So yes, affordability is a really big a big concern. And I think it's reflected in the disconnections, the rising disconnection rates."
Willis also said it's now easier for utilities to disconnect customers, and that could be adding to that.
"With new distribution called Grid Smart, they're able to shut off the consumer remotely," Willis said. "It used to be you'd have to send a meter reader out, and that took time and that was expensive."
She added that reconnections can be done remotely as well, so "if you can do it with the flick of a switch and you're not sending a meter reader out, you really shouldn't have a disconnection charge or a reconnection charge of $40 or $50. It really should reflect the fact that it can be done very quickly and easily and in our view, very inexpensively."
Willis said customers can also be reconnected remotely, but the charge can be significant, though it’s capped at $36 for electric and natural gas customers in the winter.
The six regulated electric utilities were contacted for comment on the disconnections for nonpayment report.
AES Ohio said in a statement that it "works to prevent service disconnections through flexible payment plans and assistance programs, in compliance with PUCO regulations. The company urges customers facing financial difficulties to contact us to explore support options, including the Gift of Power program, PIPP, and HEAP, ensuring continued service. Customer Assistance Programs are available on our website."
In a written statement, AEP said: "Turning off someone’s power is always a last resort, and we do not disconnect customers during extreme weather. However, we also have an obligation to protect our customers from shouldering bad debt costs accrued by those who don’t pay their bills. When someone doesn’t pay, the rest of our customers absorb that cost – increasing bills for everyone else." AEP also noted it also has several payment assistance options.
