American Electric Power, the parent company of AEP Ohio, announced record second-quarter earnings last month. It comes at a time when Ohio customers say they are receiving bank-breaking electric bills. “Actually in June, my bill was only $146. But in July, it was $255. It went up $110 in one month and I even shut down my hot water tank, took down a freezer and a window air conditioner in that time,” said Eric Vogelsang. Vogelsang has lived in his New Straitsville home in Perry County for 28 years. He said this is the most he has ever paid for electricity. He’s retired and his wife is on disability. The rising cost of electricity is squeezing their budget more and more. “They're pinching me out of that money that would maybe pay for a hospital bill, you know what I'm saying,” he said. His daughter Katie, a mother of two, lives across the street. She said she also can’t fathom the price of power. “Going back to last summer, my electric bill was maybe $200 and now it's $400,” she said. “My mortgage is barely that.” It’s a complaint 10TV has heard from several viewers: skyrocketing energy prices. 10TV took those concerns to AEP on Monday. The company responded to questions about billing breakdowns and the costs of energy. “A typical electric bill has two main parts. The first is supply (generation), which is the cost of the electricity itself. These costs increased this summer, largely because of the limited supply of electricity being generated in the region that serves Ohio. There is an imbalance between the supply of power being generated and the growing demand for it. This cost increase is a primary driver of the higher bills customers are seeing, adding approximately $27 per month for a customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours. Also, customers are using more power to cool their homes during the recent hot weather we have experienced, further increasing bills,” read a statement from an AEP Ohio spokesperson. AEP said generation costs are passed through dollar-for-dollar to customers and AEP Ohio is not allowed to generate power and makes no money off it. The generation costs can vary from supplier to supplier and consumers can shop around for a better rate. The second part of a customer’s power bill is the delivery portion. It’s the cost of maintaining the grid owned by AEP. That cost cannot be shopped around for. AEP Ohio said that the charge is set by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.