Ohio regulators rebuff utility effort to increase fees for home solar

Statement of Our CPP, February 2026

As part of a recent administrative review of Ohio’s net-metering standard, the state’s largest utility, AEP Ohio, sought to slash compensation for rooftop solar owners. But the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) has decided to retain the existing standard, which sets fair prices for the energy solar-equipped homes draw from and send back to a utility’s electric grid. 

The Ohio Revised Code requires all state agencies to conduct a review every five years of their rules and to determine whether to continue their rules without change, amend their rules, or rescind their rules. The PUCO initiated such a review for the part Ohio’s Administrative Code that details net-metering standards. PUCO’s staff recommended no changes as part of its review process, and the PUCO invited comments from different stakeholders. 

Across the state, comments overwhelmingly supported no changes. However, AEP Ohio contended that the current standard conflicted with the authorizing statute, Ohio Revised Code § 4928.67, and that net metering customers impose more than the usual amount of costs on the distribution system. As a result, AEP sought to include a distribution charge for all electricity flowing into a solar-equipped household, even if much of the energy was eventually returned to the grid from a home’s solar production. This increased cost levied onto solar-equipped households would lengthen the payback period for rooftop solar and reduce the incentive for households to install solar panels. Meanwhile, the change would add to the profits of the state’s large investor-owned utilities, such as AEP Ohio, Duke Energy Ohio, AES Energy Ohio, and First Energy’s three Ohio utilities. 

Our CPP commends the PUCO for seeing past AEP Ohio’s comments and listening to its staff and the overwhelming support for keeping existing net-metering rules in place. We ask that the PUCO continue to protect ratepayers, both those that have solar-panels and those without.

Our CPP is a coalition of residents, organizations, and technical experts dedicated to supporting Cleveland Public Power innovation and incorporation of model municipal utility practices that enhance community-driven, affordable, reliable, and clean and green service.