Southwestern Electric Power Co., an American Electric Power (Nasdaq: AEP) company, today announced the company is implementing a fuel surcharge to recover costs associated with the February 2021 winter storm. The surcharge will go into effect April 29, 2022, for Texas customers, as approved by the Public Utility Commission of Texas.

The surcharge will result in a charge of $5.96 for a residential customer using 1,000 kWh per month. The impact on commercial, industrial, municipal, and lighting rate classes will vary by rate class and usage characteristics. To help lessen the impact on customers, the winter fuel surcharge will be spread over five years.

“We realize the timing of this surcharge is not ideal for our Texas customers,” said Malcolm Smoak, SWEPCO President and Chief Operating Officer. “The February 2021 winter storm was historic not only for our community but also for our electric grid. This surcharge will help us recover the extraordinary costs incurred to provide electricity to Texas customers during the February 2021 winter storm.”

Over the course of 12 days during the storm, SWEPCO’s Texas fuel costs increased $176.2 million. The costs were attributed to significantly higher fuel prices, regional grid requirements to run all generating units and higher costs for purchased power. By comparison, the Texas fuel costs for the entire year of 2020 amounted to $195 million.

About Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO)

SWEPCO, an American Electric Power (Nasdaq: AEP) company, serves more than 543,000 customers in Northwest and Central Louisiana, Northeast Texas and the Texas Panhandle, and Western Arkansas. SWEPCO’s headquarters are in Shreveport, La. News releases and other information about SWEPCO can be found at SWEPCO.com.