AEP lays off over 250 workers. Here’s how many in Ohio were affected

View a previous report on AEP Ohio’s new plan that could raise rates for customers in the video player above.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — AEP is laying off hundreds of workers despite a lack of public notice to the Ohio Department of Jobs and Families Services.

AEP Director of Media Relations Scott Blake confirmed to NBC4 on Friday that the company was terminating 270 employees across its workforce in 11 states. While the 270 layoffs account for a small percentage of AEP’s 17,000 workers, the majority of the ones being let go were in the utility provider’s Ohio branch.

Blake said 170 of the firings were staff at the company’s corporate headquarters in Columbus, or workers within the AEP Ohio division. The utility provider had around 6,400 employees within the state before the layoffs.

Several prominent businesses have publicly announced layoffs heading into 2024, including a contractor that terminated nearly 300 people at Amazon’s Ohio warehouses and Zulily getting rid of a similar number as it faced a swarm of lawsuits. However, AEP did not follow suit. Ohio’s WARN Act legally requires businesses to give advance notice at least 60 days before plant closures or mass layoffs, but Blake said AEP’s layoffs didn’t meet the criteria for this.

“No WARN notice was required because the percentage of employees impacted is lower than the threshold of 33% of the total active workforce of an employer established in the law,” Blake said.

Blake said AEP would support its terminated employees through the layoff process. He added the company found it “necessary as we look at the roles needed to best meet the expectations of our customers in the face of higher costs of providing reliable service.”

AEP also recently raised its rates for customers in Ohio. The utility provider warned previously that customers would be seeing a 28% rate increase after the latest competitive auction for electricity generation on March 7, 2023. The company blamed factors including global demand, global supply chain issues as well as the war in Ukraine for changes in the cost of electricity production.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.