AEP Releases 2013 Corporate Accountability Report

COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) has released its 2013 Corporate Accountability Report, an overview of its strategy and business performance. The web-based report, available at www.AEPSustainability.com, is complemented by a new interactive app available on iTunes, a link to which is included on the website.

This is AEP's seventh year of reporting on its sustainability performance and its fourth integrated report combining sustainability and financial information. The company's reporting is guided by the Global Reporting Initiative, the International Integrated Reporting Council and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board.

AEP conducted a materiality assessment in 2012 to ensure its 2013 report focused on sustainability issues that were of importance to the company's stakeholders.

"Engaging with and listening to our stakeholders, both within the company and externally, helps ensure that our business strategy is aligned appropriately," said Nicholas K. Akins, AEP's president and chief executive officer.  "Ultimately, this helps position AEP for success by providing input that equips us to make more informed business decisions."

AEP's 2013 Corporate Accountability Report is focused on four key areas: leadership and strategy; business performance; opportunities and risks; and partnerships and engagement. Among its highlights, the report discusses AEP's generation fleet transformation plan to retire 5,000 to 6,000 megawatts (MW) of coal power by the end of 2016 and to retrofit or refuel nearly 11,000 MW by 2020.

According to the report, coal is expected to compose about 46 percent of AEP's fuel mix in 2020, down from 60 percent today, with natural gas expected to jump to 33 percent from 23 percent over the next seven years. The remainder of the company's fuel needs will be filled through nuclear power, renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives.

The report also acknowledges AEP's recent energy efficiency efforts. From 2008 through 2012, AEP achieved 3,016,400 megawatt-hours of energy reduction and 1,011 MW of demand reduction. Throughout this period, AEP's operating companies invested more than $368 million in energy efficiency and demand response initiatives. 

The 2013 Corporate Accountability Report highlights a notable workforce-related success for AEP: In 2012, the company achieved its best safety performance in its 107-year history.

"We keep the safety of our employees, contractors and the public at the forefront of everything we do," said Akins. "Considering the challenges we faced in 2012, including the extreme weather conditions our employees encountered during last summer's derecho and  Hurricane Sandy restoration efforts, achieving a strong safety record is something of which we are extremely proud."

American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5.3 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 40,000-mile network that includes more 765-kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines 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 ERCOT, the transmission system that covers much of Texas. AEP's utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in 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. 

SOURCE American Electric Power