American Electric Power

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American Electric Power is a major investor-owned electric utility in the United States of America, delivering electricity to more than five 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 39000mi network that includes 765 kilovolt ultra-high voltage transmission lines, more 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 Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the transmission system that covers much of Texas.AEP's utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power, Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company . AEP's headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio.American Electric Power was the first utility to utilize 345 kV transmission lines which took place in 1953.AEP has come under criticism in many of the states they operate in for attacking rooftop solar. They have specifically attempted to halt distributed solar in Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio.SubsidiariesThe company is divided into seven major geographic local operating companies:AEP OhioAEP Ohio serves 1.5 million customers in central, southern and northwestern Ohio. For years, it consisted of two operating companies, Ohio Power and Columbus Southern Power. However, in 2014, Columbus Southern was merged into Ohio Power, leaving Ohio Power as the legal operating company for regulatory purposes.