Interestingly, PV Magazine is saying if we need any further proof that renewable energy is going mainstream, AEP’s announcement one “definitive sign.”
American Electric Power is one of the biggest investor-owned electric utility companies in the U.S., delivering electricity to more than five million customers in 11 states. It is divided into seven major geographic operating companies that include 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.
In reaffirming its 2018 operating earnings and projected earnings growth rate at 5 to 7 percent, AEP plans to invest $18.2 billion in capital during 2018-20, with 72 percent allocated to its transmission and distribution operations. The company also plans to invest $1.8 billion in new renewable generation during the same period.
The Wind Catcher Energy Connection facility
This investment in new renewable generation does not include AEP’s $4.5 billion Wind Catcher project in Oklahoma, which is waiting on regulatory approvals in 2018. The facility, developed by Invenergy, will be the largest wind farm in the U.S. and the second-largest in the world, once operational.
The 2,000-megawatt facility will generate power from 800 state-of-the-art GE 2.5 megawatt turbines. Construction began in 2016, and operations are expected to begin in mid-2020.
AEP eyes a cleaner energy future
“Today, we are solely focused on making the right investments to be the energy company of the future including modern, smarter infrastructure; advanced technologies; and cleaner generation,” said Nicholas K. Akins, AEP chairman, president, and chief executive officer.
Speaking of the Wind Catcher project and future investments in renewables, Akins added, “We have a pipeline of an additional 3,570 megawatts of wind and solar generation proposed to benefit customers across our system over the next seven years.”
