Description
American Electric Power is a major investor-owned electric utility in the United States, 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 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.
