American Electric Power Reviews

We currently got a bill from AEP for over $5000.00... YES, I said five thousand. We are on a fixed income and also my husband is on life support as a dialysis patient. We have been on the budget plan for years and AEP has accepted our payments as such. When we called to inquire about this, they said that we had requested to be taken off the budget plan! What idiot on a fixed income would request this... When we had PROOF that we hadn't requested this, they didn't take the proof... Then come to find out, they put a limitation meter on our home without our knowledge, only allowing 6 amps of power per day to run ONLY life support equipment. We cannot cook, run the water heater, turn on the TV, toaster, microwave, or anything other than life support.

We recently moved into a new home around the middle of June. Me, my husband and our 3 children. One is a 7-month-old. I called to get my power on and was told I owed $260 and $150 deposit on a gas heated small house. The bill was 5 years old and I know I paid it. Since I needed power now, my sister called to put it in her name while I got proof I didn't owe them anything. They told her there was no meter at the address and said she still had to pay my bill and have a lease verification. We explained there is a meter and gave the meter number. They said there must be a mix up b/c they showed no meter and we had to pay $200 for an inspection to get a new meter. They said they would investigate to see if there was a meter In The home though.

I live in an all electric house. I have been fighting a battle against AEP for a while. I found this site and all the complaints are similar to what we have experienced. My bill for 1 month was 1500.00. From Jan 2014 through May, I have paid 2700 to AEP and my July bill was 1100. They also charged me several "deposit" amounts. I even scheduled an apt. to meet with a PUCO representative. We were using direct energy which offered us a lower KW than AEP. But as we were paying our AEP bill, AEP was not paying direct energy!

On 8/7/14 I came home to find my service had been disconnected. I contacted AEP to see why and I was told I owed $27. I paid $30 the same day and was told the service would be reconnected the next day. The next day I called to make sure the service would be reconnected and I was told yes. Once I got home, the service was still off. I called and was then told I still owed $54. I tried explaining to the very rude rep that isn't what I was told. I asked to speak to a supervisor - she placed me on hold for 15 min. and I hung up and called back and surprisingly I got the same rude person. She screamed and said no one is available and hung up on me. I called back and this person got me a supervisor right away and she was able to review the call and told me that since I was told the lesser amount, then they would honor that. Before we hung up I asked if they would be out there that day and she said yes.

A AEP electrician blew out my Xbox 360 and making a freaking complaint is so hard to do. They told me they can replace it but as much as I try to talk to them they give me numbers to call that have nothing to do with my situation. I'm ** pissed!

My wife and myself struggled to get our electric bill caught up. As soon as we did AEP imposed a $318.00 deposit on us so that we now are back up to over $450.00. We called to find out what had happened and was told it was to secure service. We called Chief Operations Officer Nicholas K. Akins who is located at 1 Riverside Plaza Columbus Ohio 46215, # 614-716-1000 and spoke to someone who only told me her first name **. All are sympathetic but the deposit was unwarranted or necessary since our service was never disconnected. This deposit was not added until we caught up on the bill. Nothing was done on the part of AEP. I will pursue all avenues available to me and my family and anyone else who may be experiencing the same or similar issues.

If you have AEP Energy for your co-op then you know that they bill through AEP Ohio. Well, we contracted with AEP Energy last July 2013 and our contract was canceled in May 2013, unknown to us. There was no notice. But I did notice that when I had to pay two bills in June to the tune of a total of $322.36 I started to look at the bill. My husband called AEP Ohio to schedule a pick-up for an old refrigerator we had and he questioned the bill at that time. The response from the customer care person was "well it can be confusing". Nothing resolved or really explained of course. My husband was more confused than before the conversation which is what utility companies prefer to keep their customers confused and frustrated so you will not call them and complain anymore because it is not worth it.

My electric bill quadruples in winter and we were unable to get caught up. I was set up on a payment plan of 400 per month. I was late on one payment and AEP refused the payment and demanded no less than 1400. They wanted over 1800. My bill is more than I can take right now. My payment plan was canceled because I was late while in the hospital with my mother fighting for her life. AEP does not accept the life sustaining paper due to her oxygen and severe COPD. She has been deemed terminal and will not be able to spend her last days at home. I have to pay about 2500 total to get it restored and no one will help because I do work. So we will lose all our food, our home and worst of all my 74 year old mother because AEP would not allow me to be late on one payment. I'm late and I know that but it would have been made; my mother will pay with her life, literally. These people need to be stopped.

Our power fails about 3 times per year. Over the past 5 years it has cost me thousands of dollars in spoiled food, hotel bills, and lost work (I work online with an overseas company). Because we live in a rural area, we are the last in any outage to have our power restored - they have actually told us that. 2 nights ago, everyone in the neighborhood heard a transformer pop outside. Instantly we all lost power. Needless to say AEP's equipment in our area is outdated, fragile and unburied. I am writing this from yet another hotel, with estimated restoration 2 days from now. Many outages occur because of the frequent storms in Michigan; however, I believe that AEP is understaffed and simply has not got the manpower to restore power in a timely fashion. Hiring more people would impact their bottom line, no doubt. I am at present trying to find a lawyer who will take them on in a class action suit - for monetary damages.

I woke up to my power turned off on June 26, 2014. I went outside to see if maybe there was an outage when I saw a notice on my door. They claimed I had transferred service from my previous address when I didn't and billed me over $600 in fees for transfer, disconnect of my old address and connection at my new address. They said they wouldn't turn it back on until $599 was paid, which I don't have and I don't have a credit card on purpose, so I called my parents and told my dad what this crook of a company from hell is doing. They gave my father run around, refused to work with me on anything, kept transferring my dad, kept changing the amount. My parents withdrew over $650 to pay these **. I'm going to find a way to get them their money back. AEP did this and similar to 4 or 5 others in this apartment complex that day, too. If there were another electric company here, I'd switch. They are awful.

Reading the reviews, I read that someone else had a very similar issue to one I had a few years back. Someone called AEP, transferred the electric service at MY home out of my name and into theirs. Once they did that, they shut off my electric. I called AEP thinking there was a power outage, only to find out what had happened. I asked, "Who did it?" They said they could not release that information. I said, "Really??? It's perfectly ok for someone else to transfer MY electric at MY home into their name and then SHUT IT OFF - but I am not allowed to know whose name it's in now or who did it??" They simply said, "That's our policy".

Someone requested service at my address and AEP closed out my account. Now guess who's left to clean up the mess! Me! I have to pay another deposit and reconnect fee. And all the supervisor can say was, "Well, that's how we conduct business" after overcharging people already! Money hungry people on a power trip! PATHETIC!!

We have been without power since May 13, at 4:30 pm. It was supposed to be back on by noon May 14, but it was not on. It did not come back on until May14 at 2:30 pm. Then it went back off at 5 pm, May 14 and did not come back on until 10 pm, May 14th. I don't think it is right that we had to go all that time without food or heat because your employees can't do their work properly. Probably, due in part to some of them being at the Friendly Tavern in Jones. Enjoying a meal and a drink while us, without power had to go hungry.

AEP turned on the power. It took several phone calls and emails but it has been resolved.

Last month, I received a $511 electric bill. If this seems high to you, let me assure you that if it seems as such, just imagine my shock at reading it from my two-bedroom apartment (the smallest my complex has). When I called AEP to determine why the bill was so high, I was moved around from person to person on the phone for many hours with frequent elevator music in between. It became apparent that they didn't want to resolve the issue, keeping me shuffled around and on hold until I was sick of it and ending the call. They have an office line for contested bills, but it always seems that either the phone is in use or whoever operates it was not available (but you can leave a message after the tone and they'll get right back to me!).

I noticed on my checking account that appalachian power (AEP) had taken a double payment out of my account. I called and talked with Lisa in customer service and she was rude and raised her voice at me. I asked to speak to a supervisor and she told me that she is not going to do anything different. I asked several times to speak to a supervisor and finally Ms. ** talked with me. She explained that I had signed up for two ways to payments plans and I needed to cancel one. I was unaware I had signed up for two separate ways of payment. Ms. ** and I agreed to stop payment deduction from my checking account. She also said they would not refund the second payment and it would be applied to the next bill because the meter would be read on Monday. I feel this is unfair practice and someone there should have picked up on the double payment. Ms. **, the supervisor, said this has been going on for a long time with the double payment. The total amount deducted from my checking account is $439.88.

My daughter was moving from Wytheville to Abingdon in early July 2013. I went online to request the new service in Abingdon and found that due to a couple of late payments I could not do it online. I called to find that they would require a deposit of $260 or 3 payments. I set up auto pay and scheduled power to be cut on at the new address (July 3) and shut off at the old address July 8. We move everything on July 7 to the new address in Abingdon and turn the main breaker on, no power.

My contract with AEP was about up. I called them just prior to it ending to check and see if their rate was going to change. That is when they said they had sent me a letter stating that I needed to respond back or else they were going to lock me into a 2 year contract and a much higher rate. I looked for the letter and initially didn't find it, but this is a business and it does happen that things get misplaced (I did eventually find it - unopened). I called AEP back the day before my contract was to expire but they said it was too late and since I had not responded a month earlier to the letter, I was now locked in for 2 years at the higher rate! I have a hard time believing that they are allowed to do that making people opt out or automatically lock them into a new 2 year contract.

Yesterday, I had the rudest, most unprofessional service tech at my house. She accused me of lying, yelled at me, and would not answer any of my questions. She treated me like I deserved some sort of disciplinary action from her. She blurted out information about a bill that my name isn't even on. She did so loudly enough for my neighbors to hear. I started to even wonder if she was a legit AEP employee, as all of this took place behind my house outside. At that point I asked her name. She stated that it was not important and would not tell me. I ended up having to locate her truck and take a picture of it, in hopes that the complaint department can identify her.

AEP has been my power company for at least 7 years. While under normal circumstances the service provided is ok. However, when we have had problems created by a lack of preventive maintenance, AEP wouldn't take responsibility. I have experienced three major power surges that happened when line braces or isolators broke. I have an accumulative loss of approximately $100,000.00. After screaming and hollering they have offered me an approximate $10,000.00 to cover my losses.

I called to have my electricity turned on at the place I am moving to. I guess the other people that lived there prior to me and my 6-month-old and 5-yr-old moving there had stolen electricity and I call to get it turned on and you people, for one, the customer service and the secluding department was very, very rude with me. They were being very unprofessional as a business.and they said the meter was removed and I have to pay to have it put back in when I don't feel I should have to pay for other people's actions. That's unfair that people get treated that way by others. So my children and I are going to have to sit in our home with no electricity because I have to find the money to pay for you guys to put back in the meter that I didn't have anything to do with. I don't see why the meter deposit can't be added to my first bill when the gas company is doing it for me and broke it down to where I pay the deposit in three monthly installments. My question is WHY CAN'T YOU GUYS BE THAT WAY?And I think you need to talk with all your employees about the way they talk to customers. That's bad business.

I rented my apartment in Oct 2011. It's a small, one bedroom that's even underground. My bills from AEP every month were $55-60. I was quite happy. Until September 2012. I received a bill from them for over $900. I called to ask why. They said they had been incorrectly billing me because they thought I was with a different supplier. I NEVER signed up with any supplier. I NEVER changed my service at ANY time. I faithfully paid my bill every month. I contacted the PUCO. They said they would look into it. I never received a reply from them. I instead, get a reply from AEP (very rude woman) telling me that I am responsible for the bill and that the only thing they can do is set up a payment plan for one year.

I was duped - don't let it happen to you. I thought I was locking my rate in with American Electric Power. I didn't realize American Electric Power Energy is a separate entity. I have had nothing but problems with my billing since I switched. It has been a nightmare. Their customer service reps tell you one thing - the next one tells you something else. We were supposed to be on the budget plan of $106.29 per month and also the budget plan with AEP for $72.00. Our total bill was to be $178.29 per month with adjustment in July. The first bill was right, the second bill was wrong - nearly $300.

Due to medical reasons, I had been out of work for three months. To make a long story short, I did an emergency form around May 22nd, and my son's doctor's office called me and said it was sent. I called AEP to verify everything was okay and I was told yes, that I had 30 days to pay the balance, which was fine, because I knew I could get help to pay the balance... Well, a week later, they cut my lights off... Why? Because the doctor's office did not include their address... Okay... All that is fine, because I called the office and they sent it right back...

I had my electricity turned off due to lack of payment. I called them and they transferred me to the Bill Matrix Automated System to get it paid, and then informed me it would be turned on within 24 hours. The Bill Matrix asked if I wanted to pay the past due amount, and I responded yes by pressing 1.

I work full time, three kids, and always, ALWAYS pay my AEP bill within 5-8 days after the due date. Last week, I received a bill with an added $298 deposit for late payments. I've never even been close to disconnect! I called and the lady I spoke with told me I should always pay my bills on time, as if she were my "financial adviser". I responded with, "If I can't pay a $200 electric bill on time, how can I tack on a $298 deposit?" She advised me to get a second job to pay the amount of the deposit. I'm so far beyond disgusted with this company. If I had the money and time, I would have a lawsuit, but in the end, it's not worth it.

My son was going through divorce and never had received a bill his whole time that he has resided there. Well, his wife walked out in October 2012. She called and switched it into his name and took her name off, and finally decided to send him a bill of $1091 in which he never received a disconnect notice. Then on talking to a representative, saying they didn't have service so it was disconnected when switched to his name with a bill of $1400. She said they never billed them from back until April of 2012. How was that? So came an estimated and that's what they estimated it, $1191. Why was he getting service until now?

I have paid AEP $1465 since Jan. 1st, 2013; there are only my husband and me who live there. I can no longer do this. They refuse to be of any assistance or help. They are a bunch of thieves that prey on the poor people! Since their rate has more than doubled, you would think they would take that into consideration and give people more time.

I just bought this home. I'm disabled. My daughter lives with me to care for me. AEP charged us a $300 deposit for service, then told us our monthly bill will be around $300 a month based on the family of 6 that lived here last. I said this is fraudulent and they refused to set it up on a monthly affordable plan. I don't understand.

My brother recently moved for his job. The other day, he was home folding laundry and the dogs (a yorkie and beagle) were outside on their leasher. An AEP meter reader came around the corner and of course, the yorkie ran up to him and the AEP worker immediately hit him in the face with an umbrella causing him to bleed from his nose and his eyeball is bruised! My brother obviously confronted the guy, saying he used to be a meter reader (which he was for several years for a different power company) and knows what you're supposed to do in this kind of situations, and he was in the wrong. My brother handled the situation way better than any of us would have.

I bought my house in 2009. The previous owner had 100 and 120 watt light bulbs all over the house (even in closets). I replaced all the light bulbs with halogen bulbs. My electric bill kept rising all the time to the point I suspected someone was stealing my power or something. As it turned out, the only one stealing my money is AEP Ohio, who had a monopoly on electricity in my area and therefore can get their hands deep in my pockets. When I look the bill, I see only outrageous distribution charges; mind you that their distribution grid is way out-dated. As a matter of fact, the slightest storm will cause us power outages for days sometimes.

I received a power bill for a home that I am renting, which is a 3-bedroom 1200 square feet home. The bill was for nearly $700.00. The average bill that I have been paying each month is $200-plus. AEP Power explained that they estimated the amount of power I used and balanced that off of an actual meter reading. There is no way I can use $700.00 worth of electricity in one month. I have done nothing different as the month before. They estimate my next bill to be approximately $350-plus. There is no way this is possible. All they can say is they made a wrong estimate and they cannot show me proof to support such a large bill. This took place right after a long power outage in the area and I think they are cheating me to recover costs for all of the repair work related to the massive power outages in our tri-state area.

I purchased my home in 2008. I have never in my life experienced so many power outages in my life in this home and neighborhood than I have anywhere. It's almost a joke among all the neighbors that if it rains, we need to bring out our candles. I have thrown away food and lost a lot of money dealing with the power outages in this area. Today the power is out from a storm and the storm was not one I would consider severe. I know power is out today; however, our neighborhood’s power is supposed to be out for the estimated time given (4 hours), but it has exceeded that time. Whatever is fixed when the power goes out in this area needs to be replaced due to the common and redundant outages in this area. It appears the outage may be caused by faulty equipment, which is the reason this area is affected during even small storms.

We had a bad storm on 29 June 12 and it knocked the power out for a lot of people. I understand that it takes time to get all the power back on. But, I live in the city and our neighbors (closest neighbor about 10 ft away) have had electricity for 5 days now and we still don't. Here it is 7 July 12 and we're still waiting with the temperature over 100 degrees. Again. And as the newspaper headline said, "More sweltering heat this weekend." When the storm hit, it knocked a limb partially out of a tree and literally ripped the power line from the pole. All that needs done is to cut the limb off and put the line back in the pole. They don't even need to run new line, it's laying in my backyard. When I call, all I hear is "We're sorry, but power should be fully restored by ... " The rich parts of town have power. Why don't I? But I do have a solution. I'm sending them a bill.

Power has been out for 8 days now in a 100-degree weather due to storm that hit last Friday. I live 1 mile and a half from the main light in our town, and not an AEP truck in sight on my road. The tree over the line is visible from the road because part of the tree is on the road and the tree is dead now from the heat and it will probably be rotten before AEP fixes our electricity. We don't live in a restricted subdivision, or have M.D. after our name (they all seem to have power). But I am a blue-collared critical care nurse that busts my ** to take care of people and to pay my electric bill.

My husband has been on unemployment for 2 and 1/2 years making it very hard for us to get by. We pay our AEP bill late but always before a disconnection. Well, we were all of a sudden getting very high electric bills of $300 a month. We thought it was the apartment we were renting. Here to find out AEP decides to slap us with a $270 deposit for paying our bill late! We are barely able to buy food because of having this high bill to pay. I have now found out that other people I know pay their bill late and have never had to pay a deposit! I am outraged that life has been so hard and this company that is making billions is treating those who can afford it the least this way and getting away with it! Oh yeah, you can't make payment arrangement either because then they slap you with a deposit. They did that to us a couple of years ago also. I cried on the phone when I found out. So upset that they get away with this injustice!

This has been the warmest winter on record, so why has been electric bill gone sky high? Economy is down and here AEP is gouging consumers. Is there any basis for a class action suit on their price increase practices? Many of us, as in our case, are struggling with unemployment. We paid our bills on time for 18 years, but this last year, with some employment issues, we got behind. Now, on top of increased power costs, we got slapped with over $300 deposit since we had not paid on time for 3 times in the last 6 months. This is such **! We are so far behind now. I have to pretty much not pay the rent in order to pay AEP! Their price increases should be regulated! I am sick and bloody tired of it never being enough for them. What are their stockholders making, huh? Is it all about them? What about their CEOs, did get they get a pay hike on our backs?

Mine is simple every month since November 2011. I incur $18 usage on my bill. However, the total bill comes up to $100 because of transportation fees, fuel fees, transport Fees, blah, blah. Bottom line here is that they are legally charging 300% to 400% more than my usage. That's called price gouging and monopolizing the market.

Increased Billing: I just received my AEP bill and it has more than doubled. I realize that of course its winter there are quite a few factors at the rising costs. Until I found out via TV (news), friends and family that everyone’s bill has increased dramatically, if not doubled. I, along with several other people, am very unhappy. I currently rent a one bedroom town-house. My bill is just sixty dollars less than my relative’s two story house. I am very dissatisfied with the recent changes that have been "allowed" for the costs of electric.

I have been out of a job for a mouth and just got a new job but I was behind on my bill. So I called AEP to set up something and tried to tell them I would not be able to pay my bill until the next week on the 27. They told me that if I did not pay my bill on the 26th that my electric would be shut off and they could not wait 1 day. That’s **! AEP don’t care about the consumer or they could wait one day. They just want me to pay all the other fees. Plus it’s very could outside they just don’t care at all.

We have had AEP since 1969 and our payments have never been late until the last 6 months. We called them and worked out a budget only they were happy with and then when we got the bill, they added to the bill 78 dollars more, so they can hold our money for 12 months. I told them I did not have money for the 256.00 and then they increase the bill more. Now, I have paid this bill for at least 40 years and that is how they help out a good customer that has fallen on hard times for awhile. This is only because we have no else where to go. This is outrageous.

I was planning to move, so I had power to the house I was moving to put in my name. Since I was still living at my other house and knew it was going to be a while before I moved, I did not have my service disconnected. It was on August when I had the other power for the other house put in my name. This is the 6th of October, and I am still living in my other house. In fact, I have decided not to move and was getting ready to have the power at the other house taken out of my name.

I applied for power at a new place I was going to rent. They told me about a prior bill from another state. I disputed the bill. My power was turned on after paying the required deposit. They told me I would need to provide proof of address for the time of the past due bill. When I gave them the paperwork, they told me it was acceptable. They now told me it was not and I would need to provide additional paperwork. Then, they shut off my power because they told me I was supposed to have the papers in within ten days. While speaking to collections rep named Jacky, she changed her story three different times. When I called her out on it, she got mad and uncooperative. The bill was not mine. And they are extorting me into paying it because through my own investigation, I found out that the guy who stole my identity killed himself. Now I am stuck paying a $400 bill and lost over $250 in food from my freezer because they shut my power off. At no point did they tell me I had ten days to get the paperwork in or they would shut me off. They did not tell me until after they shut it off.

AEP's wires beside my house exploded. It showered sparks down near my nieces and I, causing one appliance inside to smoke and ruining both of my TVs neither of which was on at the time. Their response letter to my claim said that they would honor any claim for damages suffered by our customers for which they are responsible. But they proceeded to deny my claim saying, "Our investigation shows that this incident was caused by equipment failure. This is an incident which could not have been anticipated." Are you kidding me? How is AEP not responsible when their equipment fails?

I came home from work one day and my power was off. I was 30 days late in the amount of $125.00. When I called to see if I could get payment arrangements, customer service said it was too late. I told her I had children in the house; she said there was nothing she could do. Not only will they not turn on my power, my bill went from $125 to $374 due to fees and a required deposit. How is an average person supposed to come up with that amount of money? Of course all of the items in my fridge are ruined and I had to send my kids to stay with family members because AEP refused to work with me and is extorting me for additional fees that I can't pay! This company needs to be regulated and sued!

In August of this year, AEP was performing power outages in this area. They were installing a new system. Due to the frequent amount of brown outs, my AC unit and refrigerator were damaged. In Presidio County, temps reach 102 to 115, with lows of 95 to 90 at night. And no AC. Several calls were placed and few returned.

I recently purchased a new house. On September 3rd, I received a notice from AEP saying I needed to contact them within 5 business days to confirm my account and avoid service problems. I called on September 8th (3 business days) at 130 and set it up. At 2 pm, they disconnected my service. I called to see why I was told these things happen and it would be reconnected in 3 days. I have to live in a house without electricity and that makes me mad when I did everything the way I was supposed to. Since I was not able to get home until hours I can get home, I will lose all of the food in the freezer and fridge.

I received a letter today stating that I owed $99.64 which was past due. I have no outstanding bills, my power bill rarely goes over $75.00. My name was spelled wrong and had the wrong address on the envelope. Am I supposed to believe you in a letter from an unknown collection agency with so many errors on it?

I have been paying my electric bill for years without fail. Years ago, they applied my deposit to my bill. I had moved to a different apartment and when they wanted me to be on the AV monthly, yet they had me paying almost twice what I had been using, so I just paid for the electric I used each month. Well they are so poor and need the money so bad, since I wouldn’t pay double each month until the end of the year when they would equal it out. They started adding the extra $30 each mo and said it’s because they want me to leave them $100 deposit again. In other words, they are going to get my money for overbilling regardless of what I do because I was just paying for what I used.

They keep increasing our electric bills. It's absolutely ridiculous. I'm so sick of getting $400 and $500 electric bills. Our economy is so bad right now, and they continue to get approved for increases. That just blows my mind. I have bought the energy-saving light bulbs which are not very cheap. I have unplugged everything as soon as I'm done with it, and my bill is still outrageous. And I'm so sick of it that it's causing me not to have other necessities because I need power, because i have a child and they are the only electric company around.

Once again, AEP has raised rates on its Appalachian Power customers. The increase has been temporarily suspended by the VA General Assembly. However, that doesn't address a couple of issues. For one thing, every time AEP increases its rates, it's during the coldest time of the year – Dec. and Jan. - when they're going to make the biggest profit. How is this not price gouging? Secondly, Virginia residents (where AEP is not regulated) are paying the most per kwh of any of the AEP customers in other states, where AEP is regulated. Is there no way to legally challenge any of this?