Living in Columbus means living in the backyard of American Electric Power, and this week, the company is making headlines for something other than your monthly electric bill.
According to a new analysis of corporate filings, AEP CEO Bill Fehrman was the highest-paid utility executive in the country in 2025, earning $36.6 million. That’s a significant jump from the year before, with his compensation increasing by $23.3 million, largely driven by stock awards tied to long-term company performance.
To put that in perspective, the average worker in Ohio would need about 550 years to earn what Fehrman made in a single year, based on federal wage data.
The findings are part of a broader look at investor-owned utilities across the country.
In total, utility CEOs earned $626 million in 2025, contributing to more than $5.2 billion in executive compensation since 2017. On average, CEO pay rose nearly 16% from 2024, continuing a trend that has outpaced both inflation and overall wage growth.
At the same time, many customers are still struggling to keep up with energy costs. In Ohio, AEP disconnected service more than 173,000 times between June 2024 and May 2025. During that same period, nearly 2 million final notices were sent to customers with overdue balances totaling roughly $722 million.
Similar patterns are playing out nationwide.
Other major utilities reported high executive pay alongside large numbers of disconnections and significant unpaid balances. While each company operates under different conditions, the broader trend reflects rising costs and ongoing concerns about affordability.
Executive compensation in the utility industry is typically tied to financial performance and shareholder returns. Customer-focused measures, like satisfaction or service reliability, often play a smaller role in determining bonuses.
Meanwhile, utility profits remain strong.
Analysts found that from 2021 through 2024, utilities collected more than $200 billion in net income, with early data suggesting that share increased in 2025. That means a growing portion of customer payments is going toward profit.
The issue is beginning to draw attention from policymakers. Some states are considering limits on how much executive compensation can be recovered through customer rates, shifting more of those costs to shareholders instead.
For now, though, the gap between executive pay and customer experience continues to grow. And in a city where AEP is a major presence, it’s a conversation that hits close to home.
