AEP Ohio Files Motion To Intervene In FirstEnergy Case At PUCO

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Apr 30, 2012, 02:07 ET

GAHANNA, Ohio, April 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- AEP Ohio, a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), filed a motion with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to intervene in the FirstEnergy companies' application for approval of an Electric Security Plan.

"The treatment by the PUCO of FirstEnergy companies' ESP application will directly affect AEP Ohio as a participant in electric markets in Ohio," said Pablo Vegas, interim AEP Ohio president and chief operating officer.

Vegas continued to express concern that due process is applied to the application.

"FirstEnergy requested an expedited schedule that does not provide transparency in projected customer rate impacts, its effect on competition in the electricity generation sector and does not allow adequate public input," said Vegas. "The quick turnaround requested by FirstEnergy is contrary to what the Commission seems to expect as evidenced in recent rulings."

The company is hopeful that the PUCO will grant AEP Ohio intervener status at its earliest opportunity.

AEP Ohio provides electricity to nearly 1.5 million customers of major AEP subsidiaries Ohio Power Company in Ohio and Wheeling Power Company in the northern panhandle of West Virginia. AEP Ohio is based in Gahanna, Ohio, and is a unit of American Electric Power. News and information about AEP Ohio can be found at aepohio.com.

American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5 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 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.