AEP

Researchers from Duke University have said that integrating more flexibility into U.S. power grids could help provide the energy needed to power future load growth, particularly the electricity needed to support artificial intelligence and data centers. The group in a Feb. 19 webinar discussed their findings, which are contained in their recent report titled “Rethinking […]

American Electric Power (AEP) and Calpine Corp. separately announced significant leadership reshuffles on Feb. 27, marking new chapters for the power giants. Investor-owned utility AEP, with immediate effectiveness, removed AEP Chair, President, and CEO Julie Sloat, appointing Benjamin G.S. Fowke III, an AEP Board of Directors member and the former chairman and CEO of Xcel Energy, […]

American Electric Power (AEP), one of the nation’s largest power producers, has completed the sale of its 1,365-MW unregulated contracted renewables portfolio to an Invenergy-led consortium. IRG Acquisition Holdings (IRGAH)—a partnership between Invenergy, CDPQ, and funds managed by Blackstone Infrastructure Partners—confirmed the close of the transaction on Aug. 16 for a $1.5 billion enterprise value. […]

Several major power companies have launched a software assurance database that will serve as a software bill of materials (SBOM) repository for the power industry. Part of a long-sought solution to address a critical supply chain cybersecurity risk, the collaborative effort announced on Feb. 8 seeks to help vendors identify and remediate vulnerabilities in software […]

American Electric Power’s (AEP’s) long-serving chairman, president, and CEO, Nick Akins, will step down as CEO on Jan. 1, 2023, and has already passed the company’s presidency to Julie A. Sloat, AEP executive vice president, and chief financial officer (CFO). Sloat, 53, will become the power generating company’s CEO in January, making her the first […]

As coal plants are retired, power companies must decide what to do with sites. Some old plants have been added to the National Register of Historic Places and repurposed as commercial or office space, while

American Electric Power (AEP) is shedding its Kentucky-based assets—including its longstanding regulated utility Kentucky Power and transmission business AEP Kentucky Transco—to better position itself to invest in projects that will support a resilient, cleaner energy system. The Columbus, Ohio, headquartered company on Oct. 26 announced it has entered into an agreement for the sale of […]

The Public Service Commission of West Virginia (PSC) approved Appalachian Power Co. (APCo) and Wheeling Power Co.’s (WPCo’s) request to keep the 2,930-MW Amos, 1,320-MW Mountaineer, and 780-MW Mitchell coal-fired power plants operational until at least 2040. APCo and WPCo are electric power subsidiaries of American Electric Power Co. (AEP), which is one of the […]

The Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) on Aug. 23 rattled American Electric Power’s (AEP’s) plans to operate the 2.9-GW John Amos and 1.3-GW Mountaineer coal power plants through 2040 when it partly denied cost recovery for expenses that the West Virginia plants need to comply with the federal Steam Electric Effluent Limitations Guidelines (ELG) rule. The […]

Shipments of coal to U.S. power plants in 2020 fell 22% year-over-year, according to data released May 13 by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The agency said the U.S. power sector received 428 million short tons (MMst) of coal last year, the lowest amount since the EIA began publishing shipment data in 2007. The […]

American Electric Power (AEP), which in 2019 reached an agreement to close Unit 1 of the two-unit, 2.6-GW coal-fired Rockport power plant in Indiana, has now announced a plan to close Unit 2 of the facility. Both units at Rockport are now expected to be shuttered by year-end 2028. AEP, the parent of Indiana Michigan […]

GE Renewable Energy has bagged what it says is the “largest combined onshore wind project” in its history to provide wind turbines for a set of three wind farms privately held sustainable energy firm Invenergy is developing in north-central Oklahoma.  Invenergy’s 1.48-GW North Central Wind Energy Facilities include the 999-MW Traverse Wind Energy Center, the […]

American Electric Power (AEP) will shut down or refuel 5.6 GW of its 2020 coal-fired power fleet by 2030 to comply with environmental rules—including recent revisions governing federal coal ash and effluent limitations—and rebalance its portfolio in a bid to meet ambitious climate goals.  The move is bold for the Columbus, Ohio-based generating giant, which […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) will issue a notice of proposed rule-making (NOPR) to implement President Trump’s broad bulk power system (BPS) security executive order (EO) “later this fall,” a DOE official confirmed to POWER on Oct. 5. Though the NOPR is delayed beyond the 150-day timeframe set by the EO, various BPS stakeholders are […]

Several companies have announced new energy projects in Texas, including three utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS), and a solar farm that will benefit customers in the western part of the state. The projects were announced August 19. In addition, officials in Houston on Wednesday said they have awarded a contract for a microgrid that […]

Indianapolis Power & Light (IPL) on Dec. 9 announced it will close two of the four coal-fired units at its Petersburg Generating Station in southern Indiana, as the utility continues to move away from coal generation. IPL has been pressured by state political leaders and environmentalists to close the 1,700-MW Petersburg facility, the largest power […]

Decarbonization is a word that seems to be used quite regularly these days. For the power industry, it refers to the shift in electric generating resources from carbon-heavy coal to carbon-free nuclear or

Birmingham, AL — The Association of Edison Illuminating Companies has announced five recipients of the prestigious AEIC Achievement Award for 2019. The AEIC Achievement Awards are presented annually to individuals or groups of individuals from AEIC member companies or committees who have clearly provided significant contributions to advancing the operations of the electric energy industry. […]

NRG Energy has joined a growing list of major U.S. coal generators that want to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.  The Princeton, New Jersey-based energy company on Sept. 24 said it would accelerate carbon goals it set in 2014 to reach its 50% GHG reduction target (from a 2014 baseline) by 2025—not […]

Two formidable U.S. coal power generators this week separately revised their carbon dioxide emissions reduction targets. Duke Energy announced it would achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. American Electric Power (AEP), meanwhile, said it would extend its target from 60% to 70% from 2000 levels by 2030, and by more than 80% by 2050—but it […]

The list of 181 CEOs who earlier this week moved to publicly degrade shareholder value in a bid to redefine the “purpose of a corporation” includes several chief executives from power companies.  The Aug. 19 statement issued by the Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs “to promote a thriving U.S. economy and expanded opportunity for […]

A federal judge in Ohio on July 18 approved American Electric Power’s (AEP’s) plan to close Unit 1 of its two-unit, 2,600-MW coal-fired Rockport Plant in Indiana. The modified consent decree approved by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio on Thursday is the latest chapter in a long-running dispute among AEP, […]

Sempra Energy on April 22 marked its complete exit from the U.S. renewables business as it completed the sale of 724 MW of operating wind generation and battery assets to American Electric Power (AEP) for $1.05 billion.  The San Diego–headquartered utility holding company, which says it has the largest U.S. customer base, said the move […]

Despite higher taxable income and pressure on balance sheets, capital spending by regulated utilities will remain elevated—and much of it will be dedicated to replacing aging infrastructure, hardening or efficiency-boosting measures, and on renewables and environmental projects, said Moody’s Investors Service in a recent sectoral briefing.  The credit ratings agency for the first time this […]

American Electric Power (AEP) this week confirmed it will close its coal-fired Conesville Power Plant in Ohio earlier than originally planned. An AEP spokesperson in an email to media confirmed the plant’s workers were told October 5 that the plant will close by May 31, 2020. AEP said Units 5 and 6 at the plant, […]

American Electric Power (AEP) has abandoned its mammoth $4.5 billion Wind Catcher project, one of its largest planned investments, and a key part of its strategy to tamp down carbon emissions by 2030. Under AEP subsidiary Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO)’s proposed Wind Catcher project, AEP would have acquired a 2-GW wind farm—under construction in […]

American Electric Power’s (AEP’s) proposed $4.5 billion Wind Catcher Energy Connection project—the largest single-site wind project in the nation—has garnered approval from the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC).  The LPSC on June 20 approved a settlement agreement related to the project, which is proposed by AEP subsidiary Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO). Under the proposal, […]

The Trump administration’s attempt to prop up uneconomic “fuel secure” generators in competitive markets is just the latest in a string of recent “extra-market” interventions that experts said imperil independent organized markets for electricity. In a recent white paper, Raymond Gifford and Matthew Larson, energy partners at Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP, said the restructured administrative […]

The generating fleets owned by some of the largest companies in the U.S. (ranked here by capacity in 2017) have transformed over the past four years, in some cases dramatically, as total revenues fluctuated. Sources: Fidelity Investments (revenue data standardized by S&P Capital IQ); EIA-860 detailed data; SEC 10-K filings, and company websites. —Copy and artwork by Sonal Patel, a […]

American Electric Power (AEP), one of the nation’s largest power generators, will pursue a strategy to reduce its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 60% from 2000 levels by 2030, and 80% from 2000 levels by 2050. AEP expects to achieve carbon reductions through a variety of actions, including investments in renewable generation and advanced technologies […]