American Electric Power Company [AEP] review: Unreliable, overpriced monopoly

I've hit my breaking point with this company. My bill has risen $141 dollars this year. This is NOT just due to the recent weather. It has been trending this way since the summer of 2024. I am very strict about ensuring lights and devices across the house are off when not being used. We are not frivolously wasting energy in our house. The unchecked price increases are not merited when considering the unreliability of this company. I have lived at my address for over 4 years now, and EVERY year I spend over $500 replacing food that goes bad due to sustained power outages. That does not account for the hotel bills to keep my family warm and safe during these outages. We need competition in this area to control terrible monopolies like the one AEP controls. These price increases are not resulting in increased quality of their power lines, and inflation is not driving any other prices up that fast. There is not a person in the surrounding area that doesn't curse the name of this company, so I'm speaking up. Someone hold them accountable please! I have never been overly interested in Solar Panels, but nothing would give me greater pleasure, nor incentivize me more, than making AEP pay ME for power instead. Not to mention, I would trust the service of DIY, inanimate panels over any service provided by AEP. [Disclaimer, I waited 2 weeks since my last outage to post this. I am not fresh off a negative experience. The company is just that bad.]