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PUC Denies Rehearing Of Interim Data Center Default Service Order Which Results In "De Facto Minimum Stay"
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The PUC of Ohio has denied rehearing of an order addressing, on an interim basis, default service for data centers at AEP Ohio, as the PUC said that concerns raised by retail suppliers about minimum stays under the interim provisions are outweighed by the need to protect customers against costs that could arise from data centers being dropped to regular default service
As first reported by ECM, PUCO in its original order approved, at AEP Ohio, an interim approach to the return of data center customers to default service, which includes, if needed, AEP Ohio serving the returning load with PJM spot market purchases to the extent the data center load does not provide a 180-day required notice, which is intended to allow a separate data center SSO procurement to occur
Several competitive supply parties in rehearing requests raised concern with the 180-day notice required from data centers to return to an SSO (unless the load wishes to be served by spot purchases), and minimum stays generally. A policy that data center default service costs are not to be shifted to other customers inherently contemplates a minimum stay on data center default service to allow the recovery of such costs from the users of such default service
PUCO noted that, in its original order, "the Commission acknowledged
that the proposed Interim Relief could lead to an associated temporary stay."
On rehearing, PUCO reiterated its conclusion that, "on balance, the alternative of unfair cost shifts to customers outweighed the industry-specific
inconvenience of a de facto minimum stay for data center customers in AEP Ohio’s service
territory."
PUCO generally dismissed retail suppliers' rehearing requests as not raising new or novel arguments
PUCO also said that, at this point in the AEP Ohio data center SSO proceeding, PUCO is not prepared to make any
substantive determinations as to other proposed long-term solutions for data center SSO, including IGS Energy’s previously reported Supplier of Last Resort proposal.
PUCO disagrees with retail suppliers' assertions that PUCO's original order
delegated the Commission’s ratemaking authority to AEP Ohio, as PUCO said that its original order authorized the specific components of the data center SSO process that AEP Ohio was directed to implement through a compliance filing
PUCO again declined to initiate a statewide process for consideration of data center default service issues
"To initiate a statewide solution now would be counterintuitive to the developing
regulatory framework where each EDU in the state either has a pending data center tariff
(i.e. Duke Energy Ohio, Inc. (Case No. 26-755-EL-ATA), The Dayton Power and Light
Company d/b/a AES Ohio (Case Nos. 25-958-El-AIR et al.), and FirstEnergy Ohio Corp.
(Case No. 26-697-EL-ATA))," PUCO said
Case 26-113-EL-ATA, 26-0113-EL-ATA
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September 30, 2026
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Copyright 2026 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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