Energy Roundup: AEP wants to charge more for smart meters; OSU study on scientific bias; county in heart of shale country hires first economic development director

Smart-meter costs could go up

American Electric Power Company Inc. has a new smart-meter proposal in front of state regulators.

Nonresidential customers who now pay $2.10 a month for the meters would pay $4.34 a month, and residential customers who pay 51 cents would pay $1.04 a month, according to documents recently filed by the utility.

That’s because AEP Ohio under-recovered the charges it has been collecting from costs incurred in 2013 and 2014, when it was closing the first phase of its smart-meter…