CHARLESTON, W.Va., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- American Electric
Power (NYSE: AEP) is focused on building the next generation energy
grid and enhancing service for customers, according to Nicholas K. Akins, AEP's chairman, president and
chief executive officer. Akins addressed shareholders at the
company's annual meeting today in Charleston, West Virginia.
"We are making investments to create a smarter, more resilient
and efficient grid that supports the integration of new
technologies and cleaner resources to meet the energy needs of our
customers. Over the next three years, we plan to invest
$17.3 billion in capital, including
$13 billion in our transmission and
distribution systems and $1.5 billion
in new renewable energy, to help develop the grid of the future,"
Akins said.
AEP delivered a total shareholder return of nearly 12 percent in
2016 and increased its quarterly dividend 5.4 percent. The
company's transmission business contributed 54 cents per share to earnings in 2016, up 38
percent from 2015.
"We are well-positioned as a premier regulated energy company
that delivers strong financial results for our shareholders. The
investments we're making in our core regulated businesses, along
with our proven track record of cost discipline, will support our
operating earnings growth rate of 5 percent to 7 percent," Akins
said.
Akins also discussed AEP's new logo and brand identity, which
were unveiled in March. He praised the passion of the company's
17,600 employees in working to create a brighter future for the
customers and communities AEP serves. "Our employees are committed
to making sure our customers have the safe, reliable and
increasingly clean energy they need to power their lives. Together,
we are developing new and innovative energy solutions to meet our
customers' expectations, strengthening our communities and
redefining the future of energy," Akins said.
In business items at the annual shareholders meeting, AEP
shareholders elected 12 directors. Directors re-elected to the
board are: Nicholas K. Akins, 56, of
Dublin, Ohio; David J. Anderson, 67, of Greenwich, Conn.; J.
Barnie Beasley Jr., 65, of Sylvania, Ga.; Ralph
D. Crosby Jr., 69, of McLean,
Va.; Linda A. Goodspeed, 55,
of Marco Island, Fla.;
Thomas E. Hoaglin, 67, of
Columbus, Ohio; Sandra Beach Lin, 59, of Flower Mound, Texas; Richard C. Notebaert, 69, of Chicago; Lionel L.
Nowell III, 62, of Marco Island,
Fla.; Stephen S. Rasmussen,
64, of Columbus, Ohio;
Oliver G. Richard III, 64, of
Lake Charles, La.; and
Sara Martinez Tucker, 61, of
Dallas.
Approximately 97 percent of shares voted to reapprove the
material terms of AEP's senior officer incentive plan.
Approximately 99 percent of shares voted ratified the firm of
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as AEP's independent public accounting
firm for 2017.
Approximately 85 percent of shares voted indicated support for
AEP's executive officer compensation program.
Approximately 89 percent of shares voted in support of
continuing to hold an advisory vote on executive compensation once
a year.
American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities
in the United States, delivering
electricity and custom energy solutions to nearly 5.4 million
customers in 11 states. AEP owns the nation's largest electricity
transmission system, a more than 40,000-mile network that includes
more 765-kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all
other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEP also operates 224,000
miles of distribution lines. AEP ranks among the nation's largest
generators of electricity, owning approximately 26,000 megawatts of
generating capacity in the U.S. AEP supplies 3,200 megawatts of
renewable energy to customers. 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.
This report made by American Electric Power and its Registrant
Subsidiaries contains forward-looking statements within the meaning
of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Although AEP
and each of its Registrant Subsidiaries believe that their
expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, any such
statements may be influenced by factors that could cause actual
outcomes and results to be materially different from those
projected. Among the factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are:
the economic climate, growth or contraction within and changes in
market demand and demographic patterns in AEP's service territory;
inflationary or deflationary interest rate trends; volatility in
the financial markets, particularly developments affecting the
availability or cost of capital to finance new capital projects and
refinance existing debt; the availability and cost of funds to
finance working capital and capital needs, particularly during
periods when the time lag between incurring costs and recovery is
long and the costs are material; electric load, customer growth and
the impact of competition, including competition for retail
customers; weather conditions, including storms and drought
conditions, and AEP's ability to recover significant storm
restoration costs; the cost of fuel and its transportation and the
creditworthiness and performance of fuel suppliers and
transporters; availability of necessary generating capacity and the
performance of AEP's generating plants; AEP's ability to recover
fuel and other energy costs through regulated or competitive
electric rates; AEP's ability to build transmission lines and
facilities (including the ability to obtain any necessary
regulatory approvals and permits) when needed at acceptable prices
and terms and to recover those costs; new legislation, litigation
and government regulation, including oversight of nuclear
generation, energy commodity trading and new or heightened
requirements for reduced emissions of sulfur, nitrogen, mercury,
carbon, soot or particulate matter and other substances that could
impact the continued operation, cost recovery, and/or profitability
of AEP's generation plants and related assets; evolving public
perception of the risks associated with fuels used before, during
and after the generation of electricity, including nuclear fuel; a
reduction in the federal statutory tax rate that could result in an
accelerated return of deferred federal income taxes to customers;
timing and resolution of pending and future rate cases,
negotiations and other regulatory decisions, including rate or
other recovery of new investments in generation, distribution and
transmission service and environmental compliance; resolution of
litigation; AEP's ability to constrain operation and maintenance
costs; AEP's ability to develop and execute a strategy based on a
view regarding prices of electricity and gas; prices and demand for
power generated and sold at wholesale; changes in technology,
particularly with respect to energy storage and new, developing,
alternative or distributed sources of generation; AEP's ability to
recover through rates or market prices any remaining unrecovered
investment in generating units that may be retired before the end
of their previously projected useful lives; volatility and changes
in markets for capacity and electricity, coal, and other
energy-related commodities, particularly changes in the price of
natural gas and capacity auction returns; changes in utility
regulation and the allocation of costs within regional transmission
organizations, including ERCOT, PJM and SPP; the market for
generation in Ohio and PJM and the
ability to recover investments in Ohio generation assets; AEP's ability to
successfully and profitably manage competitive generation assets,
including the evaluation and execution of strategic alternatives
for these assets as some of the alternatives could result in a
loss; changes in the creditworthiness of the counterparties with
whom AEP has contractual arrangements, including participants in
the energy trading market; actions of rating agencies, including
changes in the ratings of AEP debt; the impact of volatility in the
capital markets on the value of the investments held by AEP's
pension, other postretirement benefit plans, captive insurance
entity and nuclear decommissioning trust and the impact of such
volatility on future funding requirements; accounting
pronouncements periodically issued by accounting standard-setting
bodies; and other risks and unforeseen events, including wars, the
effects of terrorism (including increased security costs),
embargoes, cyber security threats and other catastrophic
events.
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SOURCE American Electric Power