For the last two weeks, News Center 7 has been talking to AES Ohio customers about what they feel are unusually high bills.
Since our report on Jan. 28. We’ve heard from 63 people across the Miami Valley.
Mary Ann Kabel, director of corporate communications at AES Ohio said 7,443 customers were impacted.
It’s a group the utility company calls “isolated” among its 539,000 customers.
“Well, considering how large our service territory is and how expansive it is it’s isolated because it’s in a certain area. There are pockets that there’s a concentration. That’s why I’m saying isolated,” Kabel said.
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News Center 7 also learned from AES what’s going on.
The utility company says those 7,443 customers got estimated bills.
Of those 4,500 have new Smart Meters at their homes.
AES said the meters themselves are accurate but those 4,500 of them are not connected to the customer’s account in the AES billing system.
“What the team’s doing is working to get the new meter into our billing system so that we can cancel any estimated reads that have went out and re-bill to an actual read for customers,” Jason Dorsey, AES Ohio director of metering services said.
AES said most of that work can be done remotely and has already started.
The remaining more than 2,900 customers in that group do not have a Smart Meter but have had estimated bills.
The company said several factors like cold weather prevented them from taking an actual read.
AES is working to make sure those customers get actual reads.
“We’re working diligently to get everything resolved,” Kabel said.
News Center 7 reached out to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio who said the following:
“The PUCO has heard from several dozen AES Ohio customers related to high bills so far in 2025. PUCO staff is aware of billing anomalies for some AES Ohio customers and is investigating. Regulations require electric distribution utilities to provide accurate billing. Utilities are also required to offer payment plans for customers who may be having trouble paying their bill. Any customer experiencing billing issues should contact the utility to resolve the issue. They can also contact the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio who can answer any requestions and help resolve disputes between customers and their utility.”
AES said they have been in contact with PUCO and add once the issue is fixed they will make sure bills are corrected quickly and accurately
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