Electricity meter. (Stock photo from Getty Images.)
While Ohioans’ electric bills are rising, so are the top dogs’ wages at the companies that sell them.
Ohio residents’ electricity bills in February increased by 22% compared to the previous year. It was the sharpest raise of any state except Virginia, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Prices will remain high in summer.
The National Association of Energy Assistance Directors projects the average cost of electricity to frosty homes from June to September will be $778.
This is an raise of $61, or 8.5%, over last year and almost 37% higher than in 2020.
Much of this growth can be attributed to rising demand from data centers.
Despite rising costs for consumers, Ohio’s Republican leaders are encouraging construction of the centers huge tax breaks paid by the same consumers.
Already in the face of an affordability crisis, taxpayers have shelled out tens of millions in the past year to pay the salaries of utility executives, each of whom earns as much as hundreds of Ohioans.
The highest salary at one utility, Columbus-based AEP, was by far the highest of any utility in the United States.
This came after the CEO received a $23 million raise in 2025.
According to A fresh report The CEOs of the four utilities serving Ohio earned a combined $81 million last year, according to the Energy & Policy Institute.
Utilities say executive pay is set by compensation committees operating in a competitive market.
However, the report pointed out that generously paid executives are often rewarded for doing things that keep customers’ bills constantly rising.
“In some cases, utilities pay bonuses tied to regulatory outcomes that generate profits, often directly at the expense of customers,” it said.
“Specifically, this includes incentives tied to return on equity (ROE), or the profit utilities can earn from customers on qualified capital expenditures. Where financial metrics such as utilities’ stock price can increase regardless of customer rates, higher ROE directly corresponds to higher costs for customers.”
The report shows that AEP CEO Bill Fehrman received nearly $37 million in 2025 after receiving a massive raise.
That’s $8 million more than the next highest-paid CEO, Southern Company’s Christopher Womack.
Assuming Fehrman works 60 hours a week, he earns almost $12,000 an hour.
That’s 507 times more than average household in Ohio earned in 2024 — and 900 times higher than the state’s per capita income.
AEP interrupted service to Ohio customers 173,000 times in the period from June 2024 to May 2025
Among such struggles – i skyrocketing consumer costs — the company was asked how to justify Fehrman’s huge compensation package.
Scott Blake, AEP’s director of media relations, said that while Fehrman’s salary is in the tens of millions, it is not entirely guaranteed.
“The AEP Board determines CEO compensation through an independent, performance-based process designed to support long-term value creation and achieve the company’s strategic goals,” Blake said in an email.
“While the reported 2025 compensation includes an amount of $36 million, a significant portion of this compensation is based on future performance, and a significant portion of it will only be payable if five-year performance goals are achieved.”
AEP’s strategic goals include achieving its long-term capital plan, system reliability, safety, regulatory performance and sustainable financial performance, Blake explained.
If the company doesn’t meet those goals, Fehrman will receive “significantly less compensation,” he said.
However, as a report by the Energy & Policy Institute shows, some of these goals are in the interest of shareholders, literally at the expense of customers.
It was pointing AEP reporting with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission finding that when considering Fehrman’s compensation, 17% of decisions were based on “regulatory and legislative fairness.”
This was defined as “achieving the return on equity plan.”
In other words, given Fehrman’s massive raise, the main factor was how much shareholders earned from the raise in stock value tied to company profits.
Regulators allow utilities to profit from customer financing of capital or construction projects.
Ohio has been linked to a rash of such projects rising costs for customers and rising profits for utilities. And these are linked to vast executive remuneration packages.
AEP management isn’t the only one doing well, thanks in part to Ohio payers.
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Harry Sideris of Duke Energy was the 17th highest-paid utility CEO in the country, earning nearly $14 million.
The company also paid outgoing CEO Lynne Good $8 million in 2025.
Company spokeswoman Madison McDonald said Duke is sensitive to the difficulties consumers face. However, she added that Sideris had a tough task.
“We understand that affordability is paramount to many customers, and Duke Energy’s management and board are carefully considering this context,” McDonald said in an email.
“President and CEO Harry Sideris’ compensation reflects the responsibility and complexity of leading one of the nation’s largest electric and natural gas utilities during a period of major investment and change. As we invest to strengthen and modernize our electric and natural gas delivery systems, we remain focused on keeping costs as low as possible while providing safe and reliable service to Ohio customers.”
Right behind Sideris on the 2025 payroll was FirstEnergy’s Brian X. Tierney, who earned $13 million.
He manages a company based in Akron after the so-called the largest bribery and money laundering scandal in Ohio history.
Spokeswoman Jennifer Young said Tierney’s compensation was compared to that of other utility executives.
“As with many large companies, FirstEnergy’s CEO compensation is determined by the Board’s independent Compensation Committee based on the advice of an external compensation advisor and peer group comparison,” Young wrote in an email.
Another Ohio utility CEO, Andrés Gluski of AES, earned nearly $9 million in 2025.
The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Some state legislatures have taken over generous pay for utility CEOs, shifting costs from ratepayers to shareholders.
In Maryland, law limits the amount of CEO compensation that can be charged to payors 110% of the salary of the chairman of the Maryland Public Service Commissionor $285,000 per year.
in Minnesota, Bill is awaiting a decision that would cap the maximum portion of a CEO’s compensation borne by ratepayers at the level of the governor’s salary, currently $200,000.
