American Electric Power
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| Type | Public (NYSE: AEP) |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | 1 Riverside Plaza Columbus, OH 43215 |
| Area served | AK, IN, KY, LA, MI, OH, OK, TN, TX, VA, WV |
| Key people | Michael G. Morris, CEO |
| Industry | Electric Producer and Utility |
| Products | Electricity |
| Revenue | $12.1 billion (2007)[1] |
| Net income | ▲ $1.09 billion (2007)[1] |
| Employees | 20,861 (2007) |
| Divisions | AEP Ohio AEP Texas Appalachian Power Indiana Michigan Power Kentucky Power Public Service Co. of Oklahoma Southwestern Electric Power Co. |
| Subsidiaries | Columbus Southern Power Ohio Power Wheeling Power Texas Central Co. Texas North Co. Appalachian Power Kingsport Power Indiana Michigan Power Kentucky Power Public Service Co. of Oklahoma Southwestern Electric Power Co. |
| Website | AEP.com |
American Electric Power (AEP) is a major investor-owner electric utility operating in various parts of the United States. It is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. It serves parts of 11 states, and is currently the largest electricity generating utility in the United States.
Overview
The company is divided into seven major geographic local operating companies:[2]
- AEP Ohio, made up of the former Ohio Power and Columbus Southern Power Company
- Appalachian Power Company, serving West Virginia and Virginia
- Indiana Michigan Power
- Kentucky Power
- Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO), and
- Southwestern Electric Power Company, often called SWEPCO, serving Arkansas, Louisiana, and eastern Texas
- AEP Texas Central Company (TCC), formerly Central Power and Light Company, and AEP Texas North Company (TNC), formerly West Texas Utilities Company
In addition, two smaller divisions, Wheeling Power Company (serving Wheeling, West Virginia) and Kingsport Electric Power (serving Kingsport, Tennessee), are operated as de facto parts of AEP Ohio and Appalachian Power, respectively.
AEP owns and operates the Donald C. Cook nuclear power plant.
AEP also bought much of the town of Cheshire, Ohio, after it had become contaminated.[3]
The company also operates its own inland barge line, AEP River Operations (fomerly MEMCO Barge Line), and owns major tracts of land throughout its service areas.
CEO compensation
In May 2007, Forbes listed AEP CEO Michael G. Morris as receiving $13.05 million in total compensation for the latest fiscal year, with a three-year total compensation of $22.03 million. He ranked 3rd on the list of CEOs in the Utilities industry, and 137th among all CEOs in the United States.[4]
EPA releases list of 44 "high hazard" coal ash dumps
In response to demands from environmentalists as well as Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California), chair of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works, the EPA made public a list of 44 "high hazard potential" coal waste dumps. The rating applies to sites at which a dam failure would most likely cause loss of human life, but does not include an assessment of the likelihood of such an event. AEP owns 11 of the sites.[5]
The following table is derived from EPA's official list of Coal Combustion Residue (CCR) Surface Impoundments with High Hazard Potential Ratings.[6] To see the full list of sites, see Coal waste.
| Facility Name | Unit Name | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Big Sandy Plant | Fly Ash | Louisa, KY |
| Cardinal Plant | Fly Ash Reservoir 2 | Brilliant, OH |
| Gavin Plant | Fly Ash Pond | Cheshire, OH |
| Gavin Plant | Bottom Ash Pond | Cheshire, OH |
| Amos Plant | Fly Ash Pond | St. Albans, WV |
| Mitchell Plant | Fly Ash Pond | Moundsville, WV |
| Muskingum River Plant | Unit 5 Bottom Ash Pond (Lower Fly Ash Pond) | Waterford, OH |
| Muskingum River Plant | Upper Fly Ash Pond | Waterford, OH |
| Muskingum River Plant | Middle Fly Ash Pond | Waterford, OH |
| Philip Sporn Power Plant | Fly Ash Pond | New Haven, WV |
| Tanners Creek Plant | Fly Ash Pond | Lawrenceburg, IN |
Issues at AEP surface impoundments in West Virginia
An engineering report submitted to EPA in November 2009 recommended upgrading the rating of two surface impoundments at the Philip Sporn Power Plant in West Virginia from "poor" to "fair." Engineers from Dewberry, an EPA contractor, said the dams were likely to hold in the event of an earthquake, but that repairs and additional tests were still necessary. EPA said it would consider the recommendations, and AEP said it would conduct further tests at the site. In addition to these investigations, the Department of Environmental Protection also discovered two nearby coal ash dams that officials were not aware existed, and that did not meet state safety regulations.[7]
AEP raises rates in Ohio
On March 18, 2009, the Ohio PUC approved rate increases for two AEP companies, but the hikes are only about half of of what the utility had requested. Columbus Southern Power customers will face a maximum increase of 7 percent in 2009 and 6 percent in both 2010 and 2011. Ohio Power customers will face a maximum increase of 8 percent in 2009, 7 percent in 2010, and 8 percent in 2011.[8]
Proposed coal plants
Active
- Hempstead (sponsored by Southwestern Electric Power Co, SWEPCO, a subsidiary of American Electric Power)
Cancelled
Power portfolio
Out of its total 35,843 MW of electric generating capacity in 2005 (3.36% of the U.S. total), AEP gets 69.0% from coal, 22.2% from natural gas, 6.4% from nuclear, and 2.3% from hydroelectricity. AEP owns power plants in Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.[9]
Congressional campaign contributions
American Electric Power the single largest energy contributor to both Republican and Democratic candidates for Congress. These contributions total $597,881 to the 110th US Congress (as of the third quarter of 2008), the largest of which has been to John Boehner (R-OH) for $25,050. Rep. Boehner, for his part, has consistently voted with the coal industry on energy bills.
Contributions like this from from fossil fuel companies to members of Congress are often seen as a political barrier to pursuing clean energy. [1]
More information on coal industry contributions to Congress can be found at FollowtheCoalMoney.org, a project sponsored by the nonpartisan, nonprofit Oil Change International and Appalachian Voices.
Lobbyists
American Electric Power also spent $80,000 on Compass Consulting Group in 2008 and a further $20,000 to date in 2009.[10] The registered lobbyists were Ted Hollingsworth, Thomas F. Needles and Patrick A. Smith.
American Electric Power also spent $580,000 on Sidley Austin LLP in 2008 and a further $10,000 to date in 2009.[10] The registered lobbyist was Andrew Shoyer.
American Electric Power also spent $350,000 on Van Ness Feldman in 2008 and a further $50,000 to date in 2009. [10] The registered lobbyists for the first three-quarters of 2008 were Stephen Fotis, Todd Wooten and Tracy Nagelbush. The registered lobbyists for last quarter of 2008 were Fotis, Wooten, Nagelbush and Robert Nordhaus. The registered lobbyists for 2009 were Fotis and Nagelbush.
Total Lobbying expenditures for 2008: $12,248,938
Total Lobbying expenditures to date for 2009: $1,796,913
Environmental record
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have identified American Electric as the 35th-largest corporate producer of air pollution in the United States, with roughly 88 million pounds of toxic chemicals released annually into the air.[11] Major pollutants indicated by the study include sulfuric acid, chromium and nickel compounds, hydrochloric acid, and manganese compounds.[12] Overall, electric power plants, such as those operated by AEP, account for almost "70 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions each year and 30 percent of nitrogen oxides emissions." Individually, these pollutants cause serious respiratory damage and other illnesses; when combined, they create what's known as acid rain, which causes long term damage to the environment and deterioration of natural and man-made structures.[13] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has named American Electric a potentially responsible party at the Green River Disposal Inc. Superfund toxic waste site.[14]
Citizen action and protest
July 10, 2006: Earth First!/Rising Tide blockade of Clinch River Power Plant
On July 10, 2006, 75 Earth First! and Rising Tide North America activists blockaded an access bridge leading to American Electric Power's coal-fired Clinch River Power Plant near Carbo, Virginia. Several people stretched a rope across the bridge and suspended themselves off the bridge's edge; others waved a coal truck onto the bridge, blockaded it, deflated its tires, and locked themselves to the truck. The protestors demanded that Clinch River and other outdated coal plants be shut down, and that mountaintop removal coal mining be ended. After several hours in which coal trucks were unable to get into the plant, police agreed to make no arrests if the activists would dismantle their blockades.[15][16]
Justice Department lawsuit
The United States Justice Department filed a lawsuit in November 3, 1999, against AEP and six other companies for violating the Clean Air Act. On October 8, 2007, AEP agreed to install US$4.6 billion in equipment to reduce emission, as well as pay a US$15 million civil fine.[17]
The company will cut 813,000 tons of air pollutants annually once all of the controls are installed.[18] According to the press release, the agreement imposes caps on emissions of pollutants from 16 plants located in five states. The facilities are located in Moundsville, West Virginia (2 facilities), St. Albans, West Virginia, Glasgow, West Virginia, and New Haven, West Virginia (2 facilities), West Virginia; Louisa, Kentucky; Glen Lyn, Virginia and Carbo, Virginia; Brilliant, Ohio, Conesville, Ohio, Cheshire, Ohio, Lockbourne, Ohio, and Beverly, Ohio; and Rockport, Indiana and Lawrenceburg, Indiana.
Existing coal-fired power plants
AEP had 52 coal-fired generating stations in 2005, with 26,595 MW of capacity. Here is a list of AEP's coal power plants with capacity over 100 MW:[9][19][20] In 2006 and 2007 coal accounted for 85% of AEP's energy source, and 86% in 2008.[2]
| Plant Name | State | County | Year(s) Built | Capacity | 2007 CO2 Emissions | 2006 SO2 Emissions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John E. Amos | WV | Putnam | 1971-73 | 2933 MW | 15,300,000 tons | 117,299 tons |
| Rockport | IN | Spencer | 1984, 1989 | 2600 MW | 16,600,000 tons | 83,543 tons |
| Gavin | OH | Gallia | 1974, 1975 | 2600 MW | 18,700,000 tons | 24,787 tons |
| Conesville | OH | Coshocton | 1962, 1973, 1976, 1978 | 1891 MW | 9,060,000 tons | 90,540 tons |
| Cardinal | OH | Jefferson | 1967, 1977 | 1880 MW | 10,100,000 tons | 86,880 tons |
| Welsh | TX | Titus | 1977, 1980, 1982 | 1674 MW | 11,900,000 tons | 37,154 tons |
| Mitchell | WV | Marshall | 1971 | 1633 MW | 8,478,000 tons | 53,152 tons |
| Muskingum River | OH | Washington | 1953, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1968 | 1529 MW | 7,299,000 tons | 122,984 tons |
| Mountaineer | WV | Mason | 1980 | 1300 MW | 7,727,000 tons | 31,052 tons |
| Philip Sporn | WV | Mason | 1950-52, 1960 | 1106 MW | 5,407,000 tons | 39,741 tons |
| Tanners Creek | IN | Dearborn | 1951, 1952, 1954, 1964 | 1100 MW | 5,963,000 tons | 35,494 tons |
| Big Sandy | KY | Lawrence | 1963, 1969 | 1097 MW | 5,807,000 tons | 46,476 tons |
| Northeastern | OK | Rogers | 1979, 1980 | 946 MW | 7,511,000 tons | 34,645 tons |
| Pirkey | TX | Harrison | 1985 | 721 MW | 6,037,000 tons | 32,391 tons |
| Oklaunion | TX | Wilbarger | 1986 | 720 MW | 5,016,000 tons | 3,794 tons |
| Clinch River | VA | Russell | 1958, 1961 | 713 MW | 3,680,000 tons | 27,134 tons |
| Kammer | WV | Marshall | 1958-59 | 713 MW | 3,244,000 tons | 119,369 tons |
| Flint Creek | AR | Benton | 1978 | 558 MW | 3,977,000 tons | 8,526 tons |
| Kanawha River | WV | Kanawha | 1953 | 439 MW | 1,820,000 tons | 13,543 tons |
| Glen Lyn | VA | Giles | 1944, 1957 | 338 MW | 1,356,000 tons | 13,632 tons |
| Picway | OH | Pickaway | 1955 | 106 MW | 366,000 tons | 15,071 tons |
In 2005, AEP's 21 major coal-fired power plants emitted 155.3 million tons of CO2 (2.6% of all U.S. CO2 emissions) and 1,037,000 tons of SO2 (6.9% of all U.S. SO2 emissions).
Through subsidiaries, AEP owns, leases, or controls more than 9,000 railcars, 726 barges, 18 towboats, and a coal handling terminal with 18 million tons of annual capacity to move and store coal for use in its generating facilities.[2]
Mountaineer carbon capture and storage project
AEP is planning a carbon capture and storage test project at its Mountaineer plant in West Virginia. Using a chilled ammonia process developed by French-based Alstom, the company hopes to capture one percent of the plant's CO2 emissions and store it 2 miles underground in nearby deep saline aquifiers. AEP CEO Michael Morris estimated that if the technology proves effective on a large scale, retrofitting existing plants will raise consumer electric rates from 5 to 15 cents per kilowatt hour. Morris hopes to have the test site running in 2009.[21]
In August 2009, AEP announced its application for funding from the U.S. Department of Energy's Clean Coal Power Initiative. The company is asking for a $334 million grant to cover about half of the estimated costs of installing carbon capture and storage system at Mountaineer. According to the grant application, the system will capture at least 90 percent of the carbon dioxide from 235 MW of the plant's 1,300 MW total capacity. The captured carbon dioxide, which is expected to be about 1.5 million metric tons per year, will be injected into geologic formations about 1.5 miles under ground. The company says it will have the system operational in 2015.[22]
American Electric Power Service Corporation Settlement
On October 9, 2007 the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. EPA announced that American Electric Power (AEP) agreed to pay a $15 million fine and spend $60 million on projects to mitigate the adverse effects of its past emissions. Of that $60 million, the EPA announced that it would be split 60%/40% between the United States and the various settling states. The company agreed to cut 813,000 tons of air pollutants each year at an cost of more than $4.6 billion.
It was the largest environmental enforcement settlement in U.S. history. AEP will install pollution control equipment to reduce and capture sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx). The settlement resolved a lawsuit filed against AEP in 1999 for violating the New Source Review of the Clean Air Act. A coalition of eight states and 13 citizen and environmental groups joined the U.S. government in the settlement. A total of 16 plants located in five states were impacted.
“The AEP settlement will have an unprecedented impact on air quality in the eastern United States,” said Ronald J. Tenpas, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. “This settlement is a major victory for the environment and public health, and it demonstrates our continued commitment to vigorous enforcement of the Clean Air Act.”[23]
American Electric installed three "scrubbers" at its largest power-generating unit at its John Amos Plant in West Virginia. The total cost of the project is estimated to be $1.04 billion.
"[The scrubbers are] going to provide a different look to the skyline. The plume will look different," said Phil Moye, spokesman for American Electric Power subsidiary Appalachian Power. "I describe it as a rolling, billowy, cloud-like plume. It's white. It will come from the new stack that was constructed as a part of the project."[24]
Articles and resources
Related SourceWatch articles
- Arkansas and coal
- Indiana and coal
- Kentucky and coal
- Ohio and coal
- Oklahoma and coal
- Texas and coal
- Virginia and coal
- West Virginia and coal
- United States and coal
- Michael G. Morris
- Global warming
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 American Electric Power Co. Inc., BusinessWeek Company Insight Center, accessed July 2008.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Indiana Michigan Power, "Annual Report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the year to December 31, 2008", Filed March 2, 2009.
- ↑ "Utility Buys Out Contaminated Ohio Town", Environmental News Service, April 19, 2002.
- ↑ CEO Compensation: #137 Michael G Morris, Forbes.com, May 3, 2007.
- ↑ Shaila Dewan, "E.P.A. Lists ‘High Hazard’ Coal Ash Dumps," New York Times, June 30, 2009.
- ↑ Fact Sheet: Coal Combustion Residues (CCR) - Surface Impoundments with High Hazard Potential Ratings, Environmental Protection Agency, June 2009.
- ↑ Ken Ward Jr., "EPA considers upgrading ratings of Mason coal-ash dams," Charleston Gazette, November 16, 2009.
- ↑ Dan Gearino, "AEP given OK to raise rates in Ohio, but about half what it asked," Columbus Dispatch, March 18, 2009.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Existing Electric Generating Units in the United States, 2005, Energy Information Administration, accessed April 2008.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "American Electric Power", Center for Public Integrity, accessed July 2009.
- ↑ Political Economy Research Institute, "THE TOXIC 100: Top Corporate Air Polluters in the United States", April 23, 2008.
- ↑ "American Electric Power", Toxics Release Inventory, RTK Net, 2002. RTK Net is a project of OMB Watch.
- ↑ U.S. Department of Justice, "U.S. Expands Clean Air Act Lawsuits Against Electric Utilities", Media Release, March 1, 2000.
- ↑ EPA database courtesy Center for Public Integrity
- ↑ Earth First! Blockades Power Plant, Asheville Global Report, July 26, 2007.
- ↑ Resisting King Coal, Rising Tide website, July 11, 2006.
- ↑ Peter Dykstra and Terry Frieden, "Sources: $4.6 billion settlement in power plant air pollution case", CNN, October 8, 2007.
- ↑ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "U.S. Announces Largest Single Environmental Settlement in History", Media Release, October 9, 2007. The full decrees are here.
- ↑ Environmental Integrity Project, Dirty Kilowatts: America’s Most Polluting Power Plants, July 2007.
- ↑ Dig Deeper, Carbon Monitoring for Action database, accessed June 2008.
- ↑ "The CEO of a big utility makes a bold bet", ClimateWire, September 3, 2008. (Access to this article requires paid subscription.)
- ↑ "AEP seeks government money for cleaner coal project," Energy Current, August 20, 2009.
- ↑ "American Electric Power Service Corporation Information Sheet," U.S. EPA, accessed November 5, 2009
- ↑ "American Electric fires up new scrubber at John Amos plant," George Hohmann, Charleston Daily Mail, accessed November 5, 2009
External resources
External articles
- Kirsty Patterson, "AEP's energy strategy: Burn coal until told otherwise," ClimateChangeCorp, May 20, 2008
Wikipedia also has an article on American Electric Power. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.
