AEP Ohio offers charging-station rebates

American Electric Power Ohio has rolled out its $10 million incentive program meant to bring more electric vehicles to the streets of Columbus and other parts of its Ohio service territory.

The program, announced Thursday, will provide rebates for up to 375 charging stations. The program is geared toward businesses, governments and apartment complexes.

The goal is to encourage installation of charging stations in a number of settings and to see how they’re used by customers. AEP can take that information to determine how to deploy charging stations elsewhere.

“(Electric vehicles) offer a number of benefits for their owners and the environment, and they have the potential to shift how we think about mobility,” said Julie Sloat, AEP Ohio’s president and chief operating officer. “Our program is a unique opportunity to learn how the availability of public and workplace charging impacts the decision to make the switch to an electric vehicle.”

The size of the rebate an applicant can receive depends on the type of station and owner and the public’s ability to access the station.

AEP said local government might recover the entire cost of installing publicly available charging stations by participating in the program.

Depending on the type, charging stations can cost several thousand dollars to install.

Applicants must be a commercial or industrial customer in the AEP Ohio service area.

The program was created in partnership with Smart Columbus and other groups as part of the $10 million grant awarded to Columbus by the Paul G. Allen Philanthropies as winner of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Smart City Challenge.

The goal of the grant is to accelerate the transition to an electrified, low-emissions transportation system that includes electric cars.

AEP’s 1.3 million customers in Ohio are paying for the rebate program as part of a charge on their utility bills approved by state regulators this spring.

Money will be available in three waves beginning this fall and continuing through spring. Interested parties should apply to the program before committing to installing stations.

AEP Ohio staff will be available to offer help.

For more information, go to www.aepohio.com/ evcharge.