AEP customer service representative to hold local office hours
By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
For Highland County residents who are dealing with recent increases in their American Electric Power bill now have an opportunity to speak to an AEP representative face to face.
President of the Highland County Board of Commissioners Shane Wilkin said the commissioners have volunteered office space this week for AEP customers to meet with a representative.
"A representative named Shaun Semran will be here Thursday from noon to 4 p.m.," Wilkin said. "He will have Internet access and will be able to pull up people's bills and talk about their individual situations. If people want to sit and talk to someone face to face about their electric bill, this is their chance."
Wilkin said the local customer service office hours came about when AEP representatives John Buck and Jim Boldman stopped by the commissioners office Tuesday to discuss Highland County's ongoing situation.
"I made the suggestion, and they were then able to go ahead and get it set up really quickly," Wilkin said.
AEP customers can meet Semran in the office of the Highland County Commissioners, located in the Highland County Administration Building.
Jeff Rennie, an AEP spokesman, told The Highland County Press last week that the "new rates are the result of a compromise between AEP, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and many other companies and groups. The plan calls for AEP to change gradually to prices set by market forces."
During a meeting of the Highland County Board of Commissioners this week, commissioner Tom Horst read from a list of county invoices from AEP. One bill increased from $212 to $790, and another increased from $180 to $978, and another from $444 to $617. Two Hillsboro businesses told The Highland County Press their bills increased approximately 40 percent from the previous month.
The increase has effected large businesses, small businesses, some residential bills, non-profit organizations and government buildings.
Ohio 86th District Rep. Cliff Rosenberger (R-Clarksville), Highland County Chamber of Commerce President Katy Farber met with representatives of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio on Friday. As a result, each wrote a letter asking that PUCO initiate "immediate intervention" on the rate increase. They are asking that each impacted county resident do the same, either by writing or calling.
The PUCO can be reached by through their website, www.puco.ohio.gov. Under the heading "Be Heard" is a link to file a complaint. Residents can also call (800) 686-7826. Each Highland County person who initiates a complaint needs to reference case number 11-346-EL-SSO, Farber said, so that all the complaints will be collected together in the same file.
"The power of our numbers can speak for us. That's our ammunition," Farber said. "We need enough people to say, 'I have a problem,' and they can reference that case number. That is how we get their attention. A lot of people have called already, but we need to put the pieces together, and to keep it up."
Highland County residents who are dealing with recent increases in their American Electric Power bill now have an opportunity to speak to an AEP representative face to face.
President of the Highland County Board of Commissioners Shane Wilkin said the commissioners have volunteered office space this week for AEP customers to meet with a representative.
"A representative named Shaun Semran will be here Thursday from noon to 4 p.m.," Wilkin said. "He will have Internet access and will be able to pull up people's bills and talk about their individual situations. If people want to sit and talk to someone face to face about their electric bill, this is their chance."
Wilkin said the local customer service office hours came about when AEP representatives John Buck and Jim Boldman stopped by the commissioners office Tuesday to discuss Highland County's ongoing situation.
"I made the suggestion, and they were then able to go ahead and get it set up really quickly," Wilkin said.
AEP customers can meet Semran in the office of the Highland County Commissioners, located in the Highland County Administration Building.
Jeff Rennie, an AEP spokesman, told The Highland County Press last week that the "new rates are the result of a compromise between AEP, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and many other companies and groups. The plan calls for AEP to change gradually to prices set by market forces."
During a meeting of the Highland County Board of Commissioners this week, commissioner Tom Horst read from a list of county invoices from AEP. One bill increased from $212 to $790, and another increased from $180 to $978, and another from $444 to $617. Two Hillsboro businesses told The Highland County Press their bills increased approximately 40 percent from the previous month.
The increase has affected large businesses, small businesses, some residential bills, non-profit organizations and government buildings.
Ohio 86th District Rep. Cliff Rosenberger (R-Clarksville), Highland County Chamber of Commerce President Katy Farber met with representatives of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio on Friday. As a result, each wrote a letter asking that PUCO initiate "immediate intervention" on the rate increase. They are asking that each impacted county resident do the same, either by writing or calling.
The PUCO can be reached by through their website, www.puco.ohio.gov. Under the heading "Be Heard" is a link to file a complaint. Residents can also call (800) 686-7826. Each Highland County person who initiates a complaint needs to reference case number 11-346-EL-SSO, Farber said, so that all the complaints will be collected together in the same file.
"The power of our numbers can speak for us. That's our ammunition," Farber said. "We need enough people to say, 'I have a problem,' and they can reference that case number. That is how we get their attention. A lot of people have called already, but we need to put the pieces together, and to keep it up."