The Social and Economic Impacts of AEP’s Business Transformation

The electric utility industry, including AEP, is facing an unprecedented transformation.  A number of factors, including the economics of coal-fired generation, are forcing major changes in the industry. For years, coal has been the most affordable way to produce electricity and AEP has been a leader in providing reliable and affordable electricity to its customers.

A combination of the slower-than-expected economic recovery, new and stricter environmental rules, the cost-competitiveness of natural gas and other factors are the catalyst for this change. To meet these challenges, AEP has a plan to diversify its fuel mix for a more sustainable balance, without relying too heavily on any single resource. The plan includes retiring more than 5,000 MW of coal-fired units, which will have economic as well as social impacts. At our plants, we anticipate the loss of about 600 jobs, which does not include the impacts of those lost jobs to local communities and families. Learn more about our plan in our 2012 Corporate Accountability report. 2012 Corporate Accountability report.