AEP Participates in "Green Button" Initiative to Give Customers Easy Access to Energy Consumption Data

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Mar 22, 2012, 10:43 ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) has announced it will participate in the Green Button initiative to provide customers with a simple, standardized way to download their energy usage information from their utility's website. The initiative is a joint effort among utilities, technology companies and the federal government to help customers save energy and money, and to spur the development of new energy usage applications and tools. In 2012, AEP will begin taking the steps necessary to implement the program for customers throughout its 11-state service territory.

"The Green Button initiative is a natural evolution of AEP's involvement in smart grid technologies. By providing energy consumption information in an easy-to-use format, our customers will be empowered to manage their energy usage, lower their bills and improve the environment," said Robert P. Powers, AEP chief operating officer.

Green Button is a White House-inspired, industry-led initiative through which a growing number of utilities are using an agreed upon technical standard to present energy consumption information to their customers. It is modeled after the Blue Button initiative that makes medical records readily available to veterans and others. Development of the industry standard was facilitated by the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel – a public-private partnership – and is being adopted by utilities across the country following a challenge put forth by the White House last fall.

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 39,000 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.