Public | |
Traded as | |
Industry | Electric utilities |
Predecessor | 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. |
Founded | 1906 |
Headquarters | Columbus, Ohio, U.S. |
Area served
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Key people
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Nick Akins (CEO), Rashawnda Scott |
Products |
Electricity generation Electric power transmission Electricity distribution |
Revenue |
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Total assets |
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Total equity |
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Number of employees
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18,710 (Dec 2011) |
Website | www.AEP.com |
American Electric Power (AEP) is a major investor-owned electric utility in the United States of America, delivering electricity to more than five million customers in 11 states.
AEP ranks among 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. AEP's transmission system directly or indirectly serves 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 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.
AEP has come under criticism in many of the states they operate in for attacking rooftop solar. They have specifically attempted to halt distributed solar in Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio.
The company is divided into seven major geographic local operating companies:
AEP Ohio serves 1.5 million customers in central, southern and northwestern Ohio. For years, it consisted of two operating companies, Ohio Power and Columbus Southern Power. However, in 2014, Columbus Southern was merged into Ohio Power, leaving Ohio Power as the legal operating company for regulatory purposes.
AEP Texas was formed from a merger of various predecessor utilities, and joined AEP as part of its acquisition of Central and South West Corporation in 1997. It consists of AEP Texas North Company (formerly West Texas Utilities), which operates in west Texas, and AEP Texas Central Company (formerly Central Power and Light), which operates in south Texas.
Appalachian Power (AP) is based in Charleston, West Virginia and owns the naming rights to Appalachian Power Park in Charleston. AP serves about one million customers in parts of central and Southern West Virginia, Southwest Virginia and parts of Northeast Tennessee, specifically Kingsport. Cities in the Appalachian Power service territory include Wheeling, Charleston and Huntington, West Virginia; Roanoke, Virginia and Kingsport.