Utility CEO pay surges amid higher profits, customer struggles
April 21, 2026
Utilities saw poor customer outcomes, lowered standards as they gave CEOs raises
American Electric Power
American Electric Power (AEP) is an investor-owned monopoly utility company that serves 5.6 million customers in 11 states through its subsidiaries AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power, Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company. In 2025, AEP agreed to pay a $19 million penalty to settle an SEC investigation that found AEP violated securities laws by failing to inform investors of its funding and control of a dark money group involved in a utility corruption scandal in Ohio.
Featured Articles
Utility and fossil fuel money lurks behind Maine Question 1 attack on absentee voting
October 22, 2025
The Republican State Leadership Committee, the top donor behind the Question 1 ballot referendum that would make it harder for Maine voters to cast absentee ballots, has raked in money this year from the utility and fossil fuel industries. Voter ID for Maine is the ballot committee backing Question 1 on Maine’s ballot. Roadside signs...
Utility-funded Republican and Democratic groups try to leverage rising utility bills in New Jersey’s race for governor
October 20, 2025
Updated on October 30, 2025, with additional utility funding for the Democratic Governors Association Investor-owned utilities and utility industry groups have made over $2.6 million in cash and in-kind contributions this year to the Republican Governors Association and Democratic Governors Association, amid an election cycle where both groups have tried to make political hay out...
Ohio’s big utilities fight repeal of scandal-tainted bill riders that cost customers billions of dollars
March 24, 2025
Ohio’s largest utilities are opposing state legislation that could help rein in scandal-tainted electric bill riders that have cost their customers billions of dollars. Executives from AEP, AES, Duke Energy, and FirstEnergy’s Ohio utilities all provided testimony opposing the legislation, House Bill 15 and Senate Bill 2, multiple times in recent weeks to the energy...
Reports
Paying for Their Profits: How Ratepayers Foot the Bill for Soaring Utility Profits
March 12, 2026
Electric utilities falling behind on emission reduction targets
March 17, 2025
Power Trip: How utilities use customer money to fund lobbying, corporate branding, and luxury lifestyle expenses
December 11, 2024
Duke Energy Knew
November 21, 2024
Fueling the Opposition: How fossil fuel interests are fighting to kill wind and solar farms before they are built
August 5, 2024
Powerless in the United States: the third installment in the Powerless in the Pandemic series
January 30, 2023
Getting Politics Out of Utility Bills
January 26, 2023
List of deceptive RNG and hydrogen projects proposed by utilities
January 6, 2022
ExxonMobil attacks wind power, carbon tax in Texas
July 6, 2020
Utilities Knew: Documenting Electric Utilities’ Early Knowledge and Ongoing Deception on Climate Change From 1968-2017
July 25, 2017