Brent Huffman is a small business owner in Highland County who is angry and frustrated about having to pay more to turn on his business' lights.
Seeing last month's electric bill shocked Huffman.
"It doesn't make any sense." Huffman said. "It went up 150 percent from $214 to about $500 more than what we pay for in rent."
Huffman said that he had strong sales this past Christmas, but those profits could soon disappear.
"With huge rates, I'm afraid that we're going to see a lot of businesses close. People aren't going to spend money and it's going to hurt our economy," Huffman said.
Huffman delivered a letter to county commissioners Wednesday.
Officials are collecting and sending the letters to American Electric Power, reported ONN's Lot Tan.
Spokesperson Jeff Rennie with the company said that the increase was the result of 10 years of deferred debt.
Rennie said that small businesses' electric bills were subsidized in the past but now they must pay the market rate.
"People can't pay electric bills, they have to choose to the pay bill or buy medicine," Highland County Commissioner Tom Horst said.
Horst said that the local economy has been hit hard during the past few years.
"During the last three years, DHL closed down, and we lost three thousand jobs in Highland County due that," Horst said.
He predicted the $8.5 general fund would also be affected.
"There is nothing built into the budget for extra expenses. It might be possible to make some cuts later on in the year if it stays the rate we're going," Horst said.
AEP officials told ONN that many businesses around the state are seeing their bills jump between 30 and 40 percent.
County commissioners said that an AEP representative plans to meet with concerned residents on Thursday to talk about their electric bills.
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