American Electric Power (AEP) said earlier this week five major data center owners will contribute $17 million to an existing bill assistance program over the next five years.
The Neighbor to Neighbor program awards one-time grants, of $500 or less, to eligible low-income residential consumers who have outstanding bills with AEP Ohio that are late by 30 or more days. Right now, that’s more than 200,000 households statewide, said Julia Ivinskas, director of customer experience for AEP Ohio.
“It is called the Neighbor to Neighbor program, and we serve these communities, and the data centers are in these communities,” Ivinskas said in an interview Thursday.
According to AEP Ohio, Meta contributed $10 million over five years and QTS contributed $3 million over three years. And there were one-time, one-year donations made by Amazon of $2.5 million for 2026, SoftBank Energy of $1 million for 2026 and Google of $500,000 for 2026.
AEP Ohio will also contribute $1 million.
To be eligible, residential consumers must fall below an income threshold, about $96,000 for a four-person family, and be at least at risk of disconnection. And per $1 million, AEP estimates awarding assistance to about 2,000 families—likely a fraction of those eligible.
Neighbor to Neighbor grants are distributed annually, Ivinskas said, by the national organization the Dollar Energy Fund, which oversees distribution.
As utilities charge more and more statewide, Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Maureen Willis said this effort, while “significant,” does not address the root cause of high bills.
“Continued oversight is necessary,” Willis said in an interview Friday. “Regulators ... have to examine generation, transmission and distribution costs, not merely looking at the facilities that are connecting to an individual data center.”
Current elected officials and candidates have said for months the debate over data centers ranks among the major issues for voters heading into the November election.
Vivek Ramaswamy, the GOP nominee, has said any new data center should have to cover not only its own electric costs, but also foot the bill for nearby consumers through credits on their bills or direct reimbursements.
Amy Acton, the Democratic nominee, called for a conditional moratorium on construction of new facilities. Her conditions include a data center needing to cover its own costs, use union labor, and locate on a brownfield rather than farmland, among other ideas.
Much of what each of them wants to do requires legislative or regulatory involvement.
More information about assistance with utilities can be found here.
