Important Dates:

• Wed 9/10/2025 - Bidder Information Session
• Wed 9/10/2025 - Auction Manager announces tranche targets, tranche size, MW-measure
• Mon 9/22/2025 - Auction Manager announces minimum and maximum starting prices
• Mon 9/22/2025 - Part 1 Window opens
• Thu 10/2/2025 - Part 1 Applications are due

Recent Announcements:

• 10/14/2025 - REMINDER: Part 2 Application is due 12 PM (noon) EPT Tuesday, October 21, 2025
• 10/14/2025 - ANNOUNCEMENT: October 2025 Monthly Data Posted; Hourly Load Data for April 2025 Corrected
• 10/08/2025 - ANNOUNCEMENT: Government Aggregation Data Posted

FAQs

Other/General

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• FAQ-328:
  For internal onboarding purposes, can you please provide a W-9 and contact information we can use for AEP Ohio?
  
  A W-9 is available for AEP Ohio upon request. As described in the Communications Protocols posted to the Documents page of the CBP website, AEP Ohio will not communicate with bidders prior to acceptance of the auction results by the Commission.
  
  10/09/2025 in Other/General
  
  
• FAQ-325:
  Are there protocols for how confidential financial information submitted with the Part 1 Application will be handled by AEP Ohio and the Auction Manager?
  
  Section 1.6 of the online Part 1 Form requires Applicants to upload annual and quarterly financial information, if it is available, for the Entity on whose financial standing they are relying. This information may be uploaded to the online Part 1 Form or provided via email to AEP-CBP@nera.com. Applicants must also submit all available credit ratings for the Entity from the following rating agencies: S&P Global Ratings (“S&P”), Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), and Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”). 
  
  Please see the Communications Protocols posted to the Documents page of the CBP website. Financial and credit information submitted with the Part 1 Application is considered confidential information and will be handled as such in accordance with the protocols. Designated individuals from AEP Ohio and the Auction Manager Team who are involved with the conduct and management of the auction process and who will have access to confidential information sign the acknowledgment and confidentiality agreement (“Acknowledgement”) provided as part of the Communication Protocols. A signatory of the Acknowledgment may only discuss confidential information under the Communications Protocols with another signatory of the Acknowledgment. The Auction Manager maintains the list of signatories of the Acknowledgment. By signing the Acknowledgement, each individual in receipt of confidential information: 
  1. acknowledges that he or she has read and understands the Communications Protocols and obligations regarding the treatment and communication of confidential information related to the auctions under the CBP to procure full requirements supply for AEP Ohio’s SSO customers; 
  2. certifies that he or she will abide by the terms and conditions of the Communications Protocols and will treat and communicate confidential information as specified in the Communications Protocols; and 
  3. acknowledges that he or she is subject to injunctive action/relief to enforce the confidentiality agreement, as well as liability from parties participating in the auctions under the CBP to procure full requirements supply for AEP Ohio’s SSO customers, should he or she be found in violation of the Communications Protocols.
  In practice, for purposes of evaluating the creditworthiness of the Applicant, the Auction Manager will provide a summary of the financial information to AEP Ohio for the Entity upon whose financial standing the Applicant is relying. This includes the credit ratings provided by the Applicant in the online Part 1 Form and the backup financial documentation necessary to verify the calculation of the Entity’s tangible net worth. Financial information is transmitted to select representatives at AEP Ohio, who have signed the Acknowledgement provided as part of the Communication Protocols, via a secure file transfer system maintained by the Auction Manager. Attachments sent via the Auction Manager’s secure file transfer system expire after 30 calendar days and cannot be accessed after such time. Information uploaded to the online Part 1 Form is deleted from the application website at the conclusion of the auction. 
   
  However, absolute protection from public disclosure of the bidders’ data and information submitted as part of the CBP cannot be provided. By participating in the auction, each bidder acknowledges and agrees to the confidentiality provisions set forth herein, as well as any limitations thereto. In addition, the bidder agrees that the bidder’s data and information submitted as part of the CBP will be disclosed if required by any federal, state or local agency (including, without limitation, the Commission) or by a court of competent jurisdiction. However, AEP Ohio will endeavor to notify the bidder in advance of such disclosure. In any event, neither AEP Ohio nor the Auction Manager, nor any of their employees or agents, will be responsible to the bidders or any other party, or liable for any disclosure of such designated materials before, during or subsequent to the auction. Notwithstanding the above, AEP Ohio and the Auction Manager reserve the right to use and communicate publicly and/or to third parties any and all information/data submitted as part of the CBP in any proceedings before FERC, the Commission, and any other regulatory body and the courts, if necessary, without the prior consent/approval of, or notice to, any such bidder.
   
   

   
  
  09/30/2025 in Other/General
  
  

• FAQ-322:
  Can a Qualified Bidder both (i) provide certain types of transactions, specifically for shaped energy products (but not load-following products) to other Qualified Bidders in AEP Ohio’s auctions; and (ii) to become a Qualified Bidder itself in AEP Ohio’s auctions and make the certifications required of a Qualified Bidder? As a point of information, the individuals who transact the shaped energy products with market participants operate independently, with no sharing of sensitive information, from the individuals who are responsible for the Applications and bidding in AEP Ohio’s auctions.
  
  In completing the Part 1 and Part 2 Applications, a bidder is required to make a number of certifications regarding maintaining certain information confidential.  Such certifications are listed in Article IV and Article X of the CBP Rules.  The term “bidder” is used generically to refer to a prospective bidder, a Qualified Bidder, or a Registered Bidder.
  
  While you are responsible for reviewing all such certifications, of most relevance to your question, a Qualified Bidder will be asked to certify to the following with its Part 2 Application:
  • The Qualified Bidder is not a party to any contract for the purchase of power that might be used as a source for SSO supply, and that (i) would require the disclosure of any Confidential Information to the counterparty under such a contract; or (ii) that would require the disclosure of any Confidential Information  to any other party; or (iii) that would provide instructions, direct financial incentives, or other inducements for the bidder to act in a way determined by the counterparty in the agreement and/or in concert with any other bidder in the auction.  “Confidential Information” means Confidential Information Relative to Bidding Strategy or Confidential Information Regarding the Auction, as defined in the CBP Rules. 
  • The Qualified Bidder does not have any knowledge of Confidential Information Relative to the Bidding Strategy of any other Qualified Bidder in the auction.
  • The Qualified Bidder will not disclose Confidential Information Relative to its own Bidding Strategy except to: (i) bidders that were explicitly named in the Part 1 Application as parties with which it has entered into a bidding agreement, joint venture for the purpose of bidding in the auction, bidding consortium, or other arrangement pertaining to bidding in the auction; (ii) bidders with which it is associated as disclosed in the Part 2 Application; (iii) its Advisors; and (iv) its financial institution. 
  You provide the information that the individuals who transact the shaped energy products (not load following) with market participants operate independently, with no sharing of sensitive information, from the individuals who would be part of the bidding team should you participate in AEP Ohio’s auctions.  This fact would not allow you, if you become a Qualified Bidder, to make the certifications required by the Part 2 Application. The entity that must make these certifications is the entity that has been granted the status of Qualified Bidder as a whole, not the individuals designated as part of the bidding team for the auctions held under AEP Ohio’s CBP, or those specific individuals involved in full-requirements transactions. Any internal protocols that you have in place restricting communications between functions or businesses would not allow you as the Qualified Bidder to make the certifications required by the Part 2 Application.
   
  We interpret your question to be asking whether you may be able both (i) to provide the shaped products referenced in your question (not load-following) to other Qualified Bidders in AEP Ohio’s auctions; and (ii) to become a Qualified Bidder yourself in AEP Ohio’s auctions and make the certifications required of a Qualified Bidder.  We offer two clarifications at the outset.  First, if you become a Qualified Bidder in an auction, you will receive with your notification a list of Qualified Bidders for that auction.  Thus, you will know whether a potential counterparty to a transaction is or is not a Qualified Bidder in AEP Ohio’s auction.  Second, the certifications required by the CBP Rules do not impede your ability to provide shaped products to market participants that are not Qualified Bidders in AEP Ohio’s auctions (although if such market participants are taking part in other default service auctions, such auctions would impose their own restrictions on the type of supply arrangements that bidders can make for the auction products).  Thus, we address specifically whether you could become a Qualified Bidder in AEP Ohio’s auctions and also provide the shaped products to other Qualified Bidders in the same auction.  
   
  Ultimately, this depends on the nature of the transactions made with these other Qualified Bidders. The transaction of a shaped product in and of itself may or may not impede your ability to make or uphold the certifications of the Part 2 Application (in particular, the certification that you have no knowledge of Confidential Information Relative to the Bidding Strategy of another Qualified Bidder, which includes knowledge of that Qualified Bidder’s estimation of the value of a tranche). Transaction of a shaped product in isolation, with that product having a fixed price, a fixed volume and delivery pattern, along with no contingency between winning at the auction and purchasing the product, may not reveal such information. A shaped product can be used not only to support a bid in AEP Ohio’s auctions but it can be used outside these auctions, and it can be resold to another market participant. A shaped product in and of itself is not sufficient to meet the supply obligations of a winner at AEP Ohio’s auctions; several other significant components are required. 
   
  Such a transaction need not, but could, reveal or provide Confidential Information Relative to the Bidding Strategy of a Qualified Bidder that is a counterparty to this transaction. For example, if this transaction were not an isolated transaction but instead was part of a series of transactions with the same Qualified Bidder as counterparty that included shaped products for varying delivery patterns, or if these shaped products were added to other components that could be used for SSO Supply, the totality of these transactions could well reveal Confidential Information Relative to the Bidding Strategy of that Qualified Bidder. If the totality of the transactions between you and another Qualified Bidder were to reveal such information, it would not be possible for you as a Qualified Bidder to certify that you do not have any knowledge of Confidential Information Relative to the Bidding Strategy of any other Qualified Bidder in the auction.  Conversely, the Qualified Bidder transacting with you could be unable to certify that it has not disclosed Confidential Information Relative to its own Bidding Strategy. 
   
  09/26/2025 in Other/General
  
  
• FAQ-318:
  What percentage of SSO Load does one tranche represent in the SSO Auctions?
  
  SSO Load is divided into a number of “tranches”, each representing a fixed percentage of SSO Load. Prior to each auction, the Auction Manager announces to bidders the number of tranches to be offered and the fixed percentage assigned to each tranche (the “tranche size”). For the March 2025 Auction, one tranche represented 1% of SSO Load. For information on the tranche size and the product description in previous SSO auctions, please see the Documents and Announcements Archive page of the AEP Ohio CBP website.
  
  05/23/2025 in Other/General
  
  
• FAQ-315:
  Will AEP Ohio participate in the ARR allocation process on behalf of SSO Suppliers for delivery year 2025/26 for the load procured in the March 2025 Auction?
  
  AEP Ohio will participate in the ARR allocation process on behalf of SSO Suppliers for the SSO Load procured in the March 2025 Auction for delivery year 2025/26.  SSO Suppliers will get the ARR credit for this delivery year.
  
  02/20/2025 in Other/General
  
  
• FAQ-313:
  Is any information available on the AEP Ohio CBP website regarding the standby service charged mentioned in AEP Ohio’s filing, “Application Not for an Increase in Rates”, in response to the Commission’s September 7th Entry on December 8, 2022?
  
  No additional information specific to the standby service charge under Revised Code 4928.20(I), as referenced in AEP Ohio’s filing “Application Not for an Increase in Rates” in response to the Commission’s September 7th Entry on December 8, 2022 in Case No. 00-2317-EL-GAG, is available on the AEP Ohio CBP website. For your convenience, the full text of RC 4928.20(I) can be found here: https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-4928.20
  Each bidder is responsible for its own independent assessment of all sources of information that may be pertinent and is responsible for making all investigations it deems necessary or advisable in its sole discretion before deciding to participate in any auction under AEP Ohio’s CBP.
   
  10/25/2024 in Other/General
  
  
• FAQ-309:
  What is the timeline and expected load for data centers and cryptocurrency data miners being added to AEP Ohio’s service territory? 
  
  AEP Ohio does not provide load analysis or forecasts. Each bidder is responsible for its own independent assessment of all sources of information that may be pertinent and is responsible for making all investigations it deems necessary or advisable in its sole discretion before deciding to participate in any auction under AEP Ohio’s CBP. 
  As described in Article II of the CBP Rules approved by the Commission in a September 19, 2024 Finding and Order (Case No. 23-0023-EL-SSO), AEP Ohio provides historical data for the convenience of bidders in the Data Room of the AEP CBP website. The Data Room contains the most up-to-date information available for the data series that are updated monthly.  The files available on the Data Room page are typically updated monthly, on or before the 20th of each month.  
   
  10/03/2024 in Other/General
  
  
• FAQ-308:
  When is the expected date of the October 2024 SSO Auction under AEP Ohio’s CBP and when is the full schedule expected to be made available?
  
  The October 2024 Auction is scheduled for Tuesday, October 29, 2024. The deadline for submission of the Part 1 Application to become a Qualified Bidder is 12 PM (noon) Eastern Prevailing Time on Thursday, September 26, 2024. 

  The full schedule for the upcoming October 2024 Auction under AEP Ohio’s CBP is available on the Calendar page of the CBP website. 

  Revised 8/27/2024
  
  08/20/2024 in Other/General
  
  

• FAQ-307:
  Where can I find minimum stay rules in AEP Ohio’s territory regarding customers that are returned to the Standard Service Offer by a Governmental Aggregator?
  
  Please refer to Paragraph 27, “Changing Competitive Service Providers”, of the Terms and Conditions of Service available on AEP Ohio’s website here. 
  
  02/14/2024 in Other/General
  
  
• FAQ-300:
  Is there a product schedule available for future auctions?
  
  On January 6, 2023, AEP Ohio filed an Application seeking to implement its fifth Electric Security Plan (“ESP V”) for a period to commence on June 1, 2024 (Case No. 23-23-EL-SSO). AEP Ohio included within its Application a proposed product schedule (see page 19 of the PDF here). On September 6, 2023, AEP Ohio and other parties to the proceeding filed a Joint Stipulation and Recommendation (“Stipulation”) recommending that the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (“Commission”) approve AEP Ohio’s application as modified by the Stipulation. Among other things, the Stipulation modifies the term length of ESP V to commence on June 1, 2024 and continue through May 31, 2028 instead of commencing on June 1, 2024 and continuing through May 31, 2030 as proposed in AEP Ohio’s ESP V Application.

  As the Stipulation is still being considered by the Commission, a schedule of future auctions is not currently available. However, to ensure that its SSO obligation is met on and after June 1, 2024, on September 15, 2023, AEP Ohio filed a Motion for Interim Relief to conduct a November 2023 auction consistent with the competitive bidding process approved in AEP Ohio’s ESP IV (“Motion for Interim Relief”). The Motion for Interim Relief requested that AEP Ohio be able to hold a November 2023 auction and offer 50 tranches of a 12-month product with a supply term beginning June 1, 2024. Additionally, on December 21, 2023, AEP Ohio filed a Motion for Interim Relief to conduct a March 2024 auction consistent with the competitive bidding process approved in AEP Ohio’s ESP IV (“Second Motion for Interim Relief”). The Second Motion for Interim Relief requested that AEP Ohio be able to hold a March 2024 auction and offer 50 tranches of a 12-month product with a supply term beginning June 1, 2024. 

  The Commission issued an Entry approving these Motions for Interim Relief on September 20, 2023 and January 10, 2024, respectively. The November 2023 auction was held on November 28, 2023. The March 2024 auction will be held on March 5, 2024. The Commission Entries with additional background information is available on the Regulatory Background page of the CBP website here.

  Revised 1/22/2024
  
  09/28/2023 in Other/General
  
  

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