AEP Expands T&D Capacity, Adds NGCC Plant as Load Growth Looms

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--American Electric Power Company Incorporated (AEP) (Columbus, Ohio), one of the largest electric utility companies in the U.S., expects to see its annual retail load growth of between 8% and 9% through 2027. Just in the first quarter of 2025, its commercial load grew 12.3% when compared with the same period last year. Nonetheless, the company believes it is well-positioned to handle the new demand. Industrial Info is tracking more than $20 billion worth of active and proposed projects from AEP, split almost evenly between power-generation and transmission and distribution (T&D) developments.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing AEP's active and proposed projects, by project type.

In a quarterly earnings-related conference call, Trevor Mihalik, the chief financial officer of AEP, said an expected increase in load growth means his company could "add up to $10 billion of incremental capital over the next five years to our already sizable $54 billion plan." In particular, AEP saw a larger industrial load brought online in Texas, across a variety of customers and industries, according to Mihalik.

AEP's active projects in Texas include a swath of T&D developments aimed at addressing a potential shortfall in much-needed capacity. Among them is the multi-segment Winfield-Winnsboro Transmission Improvements Project, which involves rebuilding roughly 30 miles of line in northeastern Texas. The existing line was constructed more than 70 years ago and nearing the end of its planned service life.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can read detailed project reports on all three segments of the project:

• an 11-mile stretch from the Winfield Substation in Mount Pleasant to the New Hope Substation in Scroggins; see project report
• an 11-mile stretch from the New Hope Substation to the Mount Vernon Switching Station in Mount Vernon; see project report
• a seven-mile stretch from the Winnsboro Substation in Winnsboro to the New Hope Substation; see project report

For more information on the role of AEP and other T&D providers in fixing the flagging U.S. power grid, see May 12, 2025, article - Fixing the Grid: Diverse Federal Activities May Point to Progress.

Steep Demand Growth Looms in Indiana and Ohio, AEP Says
"Since our last call, both Amazon Web Services and Google have connected hyperscale data centers to our system in Indiana, representing billions of dollars in customer investment," Mihalik said in the earnings call. When this is added to AEP's existing data center customers in Ohio and Texas, "who continue to ramp up at a double-digit pace," AEP is "on track to nearly triple the pace of our retail sales growth from 3% in 2024 to almost 9% in 2025. That represents the largest acceleration of load at AEP since the late 1960s."

Last month, Indiana Michigan Power (I&M), an AEP subsidiary, filed with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) to acquire the Oregon Clean Energy Center in Oregon, Ohio, an operational, 870-MW, natural gas-fired, combined-cycle (NGCC) power plant currently owned by CPV Oregon Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Kenon Holdings Limited (Singapore). The acquisition is part of I&M's Future Ready plan, which addresses an expected power-demand growth in I&M's service area from about 2,800 MW in 2024 to more than 7,000 MW in 2030. Subscribers can learn more about the Oregon Clean Energy Center in a plant profile.

AEP also is building out its T&D capacity in Ohio. The Fostoria-East Lima Transmission Line Rebuild Project aims to rebuild about 40 miles of line in northwestern Ohio, from the West End Fostoria Substation in Fostoria to the East Lima Substation in Lima. Subscribers can read detailed reports on all four of the major segments:

• a two-mile stretch from West End to the Fostoria Central Substation, also in Fostoria; see project report
• a 13-mile stretch from Fostoria Central to the New Liberty Substation in Findlay; see project report
• a 14-mile stretch from New Liberty to the North Woodcock Substation in Bluffton; see project report
• an 11-mile stretch from North Woodcock to the East Lima Substation; see project report

"AEP is committed to working collaboratively with regulators and policymakers to achieve the energy goals of the states it serves," the company said in a quarterly earnings-related press release. "Updated integrated resource plans (IRPs) have been filed in Arkansas and Indiana, and [more] will be filed over the next year in Kentucky, Michigan, Virginia and West Virginia."

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project and Plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.

Subscribers can click here for a full list of detailed project reports for active and proposed projects from AEP.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).