Digital Power Network Files Memorandum Opposing AEP Ohio’s Attempt to Rewrite State Data Center Tariff
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, D.C. — The Digital Power Network (DPN), the nation’s largest coalition of Bitcoin miners and flexible data-center operators, representing more than 85% of U.S. public Bitcoin mining hashrate, today announced its formal opposition to AEP Ohio’s proposal in base distribution rate case 25-0392-EL-AIR, which seeks to retroactively alter key customer rights established under Ohio’s newly adopted Data Center Tariff (DCT).
Ohio has long positioned itself as a predictable, pro-growth destination for advanced computing and energy-aligned industries. But AEP Ohio’s attempt to use a rate case to unwind previously approved tariff provisions threatens that reputation and introduces deep regulatory uncertainty that could deter billions in future investment.
AEP’s Proposal Undermines PUCO’s July 2025 Tariff Order
The DCT finalized in July 2025 already imposed a uniquely burdensome regulatory structure on data centers, AI compute facilities, and Bitcoin miners, requiring higher delivery charges, duplicative interconnection studies, mandatory curtailment rules, minimum payment penalties, and 8–12 year contractual commitments. No other large industrial class in Ohio is subject to comparable treatment.
One of the most harmful components is the exclusion of these customers from Ohio’s Basic Transmission Cost Rider (BTCR) coincident peak programs (1CP and 6CP), which serve as key demand-response tools that help reduce system peaks and improve reliability. AEP’s prohibition is not grounded in engineering or reliability needs and ignores the proven flexibility of this sector. Public ERCOT data shows flexible compute loads, including Bitcoin miners, regularly curtail 90–95% of load within minutes during grid emergencies.
AEP’s Base Rate Filing Attempts Retroactive Changes and Violates Regulatory Certainty
In its July order, PUCO explicitly preserved the rights of customers with executed Letters of Agreement (LOAs) or Energy Service Agreements (ESAs) predating the DCT, including continued 1CP/6CP eligibility. AEP itself relied on these commitments when asking stakeholders to support the tariff.
Yet before PUCO finalized the DCT, AEP filed its base rate case seeking to eliminate grandfathered customers’ 1CP eligibility, impose new behind-the-meter restrictions, and subject existing facilities to the same punitive conditions applied to new DCT customers. This maneuver attempts to obtain through litigation what AEP did not secure through the tariff process, universal imposition of a restrictive tariff regime, irrespective of contractual reliance or Commission findings.
Such retroactive unwinding contradicts fundamental principles of regulatory certainty, invites legal risk, and sends a chilling signal to companies evaluating large-scale investments in Ohio.
Severe Economic Consequences for Ohio
The economic stakes are significant. Ohio’s digital-infrastructure sector supported an estimated 95,000 jobs and $11.8 billion in state GDP in 2024. A single 100-MW data-center deployment generates approximately $758 million in net present value for the state. With stable policy, the sector could support over 132,500 jobs by 2030.
AEP’s proposed changes threaten to raise costs for existing customers by tens of millions of dollars annually, jeopardizing long-planned projects involving land acquisition, interconnection upgrades, community benefits agreements, and multi-year construction timelines.
Flexible Loads Strengthen the Grid — AEP’s Proposal Weakens It
Flexible compute loads, including Bitcoin mining, provide rapid, large-scale demand response that reduces system stress and helps prevent emergencies. These facilities also fund critical transmission upgrades, support development of new generation, and revitalize brownfield industrial sites.
By imposing punitive structures and then seeking to apply them retroactively, AEP undermines the very reliability benefits and infrastructure investments that Ohio’s grid increasingly relies upon.
DPN’s Position
The Digital Power Network strongly opposes AEP Ohio’s proposal in Case 25-0392-EL-AIR.
AEP’s actions:
Retroactively dismantle PUCO-approved customer rights
Discriminate against a single customer class without technical justification
Increase costs while reducing grid flexibility
Undermine capital investment and job creation statewide
DPN stands ready to work with PUCO, AEP, and Ohio policymakers to develop a fair, stable, pro-growth regulatory framework that protects consumers, strengthens grid reliability, and ensures Ohio remains competitive for next-generation digital-infrastructure investment.
Read the full memorandum of opposition here.
About the Digital Power Network (DPN):
The Digital Power Network (DPN) is the largest coalition of Bitcoin miners and digital infrastructure leaders in the United States, representing over 85% of the Bitcoin hash rate among publicly traded U.S. mining companies. DPN advocates for policies that promote energy innovation, grid resilience, economic development, and the strategic role of digital assets in the 21st-century economy.