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Ohio Manufacturers Association’s File Reply Brief with the Supreme Court Re: AEP Ohio’s Data Center Application
On March 2, 2026 the Ohio Manufacturers Association’s energy group filed a reply brief with the Supreme Court of Ohio in its appeal of Public Utility Commission’s (PUCO’s) order and subsequent entry on rehearing.
In its reply brief the Ohio Manufacturers Association’s energy group argue:
“As a creature of statute, the PUCO is obligated to give full effect to the language contained in R.C. 4928.47, R.C. 4928.17, and R.C. 4905.35. While the plain language of R.C. 4928.47 allows AEP to construct or assist in the construction of a customer sited renewable energy resource, nowhere in the statute does it authorize an electric distribution utility like AEP to own, maintain, or operate such a resource. A such, allowing AEP to procure, own, maintain, and/or operate the proposed generation facility directly contravenes the plain language of R.C. 4928.47, and the PUCO should have rejected the Agreement on that basis alone. But even accepting the PUCO’s flawed reading of R.C. 4928.47, the Agreement still violates corporate separation requirements in the law and the PUCO’s corporate separation rules by allowing AEP to unlawfully own a generation asset and thereby own a competitive service. Therefore, the Agreement still should have been rejected. And lastly, even if one discounts the first two issues, the Agreement is discriminatory and anti-competitive on its face because it provides Amazon with substantially different and more favorable treatment compared to similarly situated mercantile customers and because it thwarts competitive on-site generation deals that Amazon might have made with a third party rather than AEP. As such, it should also have been rejected on this ground.”
This proceeding was initiated to address AEP Ohio’s application for approval of a customer-sited renewable energy resource agreement with Amazon. Under the agreement, AEP Ohio will procure, own, install, maintain, and operate behind-the-meter natural gas-powered onsite generation serving Amazon’s proposed data center in this territory.
Also reported previously, on May 28, 2025 the Ohio PUC issued a finding and order approving the application filed by Ohio Power Company for approval of it data center agreement with Amazon.
