COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — American Electric Power wants to make its customers pick up the $61.8 million tab for repairs resulting from last summer's severe storms.

The Columbus Dispatch (http://bit.ly/UK1dZO ) reports that the reimbursement request the company filed with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio is one of the largest ever in the state.

It would cost about $3 a month for a typical household and would be paid for a year. That works out to about a 2-percent rate increase.

AEP's system suffered mass power failures because of the June 29 storm. Nearly half of the company's 1.5 million Ohio customers lost power, some for more than a week.

Utility spokeswoman Terri Flora said it is typical for utilities to go to customers to recover costs for large-scale storms.

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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com