American Electric Power
American Electric Power Company, Inc. (AEP), (railcar reporting mark: AEPX) is an America] domestic electric utility company in the United States. It is one of the largest electric utility companies in the country, with more than five million customers in 11 states.[2]
Company type
- Nasdaq: AEP
- DJUA component
- Nasdaq-100 component
- S&P 500 component
Originally American Gas and Electric Company (AG&E), formed in 1906 from Electric Company of America. Became American Electric Power in 1958; merged with Central and Southwest Corporation in 2000.
1906
AEP Building, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
US$19.0 billion (2023)
US$3.56 billion (2023)
US$2.21 billion (2023)
US$96.7 billion (2023)
US$25.3 billion (2023)
17,250 (2023)
American Electric Power Company is one of the nation's largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation's largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile (63,000 km) network that includes 765 kilovolt ultra-high voltage transmission lines, more than all other U.S. transmission systems combined.[3] AEP's transmission system directly or indirectly provides about 10 percent of the electricity demand in the Eastern Interconnection, the interconnected transmission system that covers 38 eastern and central U.S. states and eastern Canada, and approximately 11 percent of the electricity demand in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the transmission system that covers much of Texas.
AEP's utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas). AEP's headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio.
American Electric Power was the first utility to utilize 345 kV transmission lines which took place in 1953.
The company ranked 185th on the 2018 Fortune 500 of the largest United States corporations by revenue.[4]
Nuclear[edit]
AEP owns and operates the Donald C. Cook nuclear power plant. This accounts for 6% of the generation portfolio.
Hybrid technology[edit]
AEP is expanding its green efforts to include 18 more International DuraStar hybrid diesel trucks.[22] AEP is also teaming with Ford for the integration of a Vehicle-To-Power grid communication system, which allows hybrid vehicles to communicate with power companies to determine where, how long, and what it would cost to re-charge a hybrid during travel.[23]
Solar and wind energy[edit]
In 2009, AEP signed a deal with Wyandot Solar LLC to purchase power from one of the largest solar fields in the eastern United States of America, based in Upper Sandusky, Ohio.[24]
AEP owns and operates the Desert Sky Wind Farm and the Trent Wind Farm.[25]
In 2009, AEP partnered with other energy companies in commissioning a study of how to transmit wind energy generated in the Upper Midwest to consumers in the East.[26]
In 2017, Invenergy and GE announced plans for the $4.5 billion, 2,000 MW Wind Catcher (a/k/a Windcatcher) project on a 300,000-acre site in Cimarron and Texas counties in the Oklahoma Panhandle, which would have been among the world's largest wind farms when completed in 2020.[27][28] AEP utility subsidiaries PSO and SWEPCO asked utility regulators in Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma to approve plans to purchase the wind farm from Invenergy upon completion of construction.[27] However, the project ran into opposition and was finally cancelled in July 2018.[28]
PSO was approved in early 2020 by regulators in Oklahoma to own a 45.5% share (675 MW) of a massive 1,485 megawatt wind project known as the North Central Energy Facilities ("NCEF"), with SWEPCO owning the remaining 810 MW.[29][30] The project includes three wind farms covering areas in Alfalfa, Blaine, Custer, Kingfisher, Garfield, Major and Woods counties of Oklahoma.[29] Approval followed in Arkansas and Louisiana in May; however, the Texas Public Utility Commission denied the plan for the 309 megawatts intended for that state.[31] Nevertheless, PSO and SWEPCO decided to go forward with the project, with Oklahoma to receive 675 megawatts, Louisiana 464 megawatts, and Arkansas 268 megawatts.[31] The projects were to be completed in the 2020-2021 timeframe.[31] The NCEF project differed from the abandoned Wind Catcher plan in that Wind Catcher envisioned a new 765-kilovolt transmission line which would have run hundreds of miles in Oklahoma, while the NCEF facilities are near an existing PSO/SWEPCO transmission system.[32] Also, NCEF was scalable, so that the states which approved the project could increase the number of megawatts allocated to them if/when another state rejected the proposal.[32] The 199 MW Sundance project, located northwest of Aline in Woods County, was completed in April 2021.[30] The 287 MW Maverick and the 999 MW Traverse projects are scheduled to be in service later in 2021 and in early 2022, respectively.[30]
PATH Proposal[edit]
In 2007, AEP teamed with Allegheny Energy to propose the US$1.8 billion[33][34] (changed to US$2.1 billion in 2011[35]) Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH), a 290-mile (470 km), 765 kilovolt transmission line that would run through West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland. According to Joe Denault, a volunteer spokesperson for the proposal, the PATH proposal would incorporate new technology to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 380,000 short tons (340,000 t) a year; allow for the transmission of renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, and hydroelectric; and generate 5,700 jobs, with $420 million in employee compensation annually.[36] However, many of these claims are disputed[37] and the proposal must pass several legal hurdles before moving forward.[38] On August 24, 2012, PJM Interconnection officially removed the PATH project from its long-range expansion plans, citing a slow economy for reducing the projected growth in electricity use.[39]
Ownership[edit]
As of 2017 American Electric Power shares are mainly held by institutional investors, and large Single Family Offices (Vanguard group, BlackRock, State Street Corporation, and others[45])