public traded as nyse aep dow jones utility average component s & p 500 component industry electric utilities predecessor originally american gas and electric company ag & e formed in 1906 from electric company of america . became american electric power in 1958 ; merged with central and southwest corporation in 2000 . founded 1906 headquarters columbus ohio u.s. area served aep ohio ohio aep texas texas appalachian power tennessee virginia west virginia indiana michigan power indiana michigan kentucky power kentucky pso oklahoma swepco arkansas louisiana texas key people nick akins president and ceo rashawnda scott products electricity generation electric power transmission distribution revenue us 15.357 billion 2013 1 us 14.945 billion 2012 1 operating income us 2.855 billion 2013 1 us 2.656 billion 2012 1 net income us 1.48 billion 2013 1 us 1.259 billion 2012 1 total assets us 56.414 billion 2013 2 us 54.367 billion 2012 1 total equity us 16.086 billion 2013 2 us 15.237 billion 2012 2 number of employees 18 710 dec 2011 3 website www.aep.com american electric power aep is a major investor owned electric utility 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 38 000 megawatts of generating capacity in the u.s. aep also owns the nation s largest electricity transmission system a nearly 39 000 mile 63 000 km network that includes 765 kilovolt ultra high voltage transmission lines more than all other u.s. transmission systems combined . 4 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 in virginia west virginia and 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 . 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 . 5 6 1 riverside plaza aep headquarters in columbus ohio contents 1 subsidiaries 1.1 aep ohio 1.2 aep texas 1.3 appalachian power 1.4 indiana michigan power 1.5 kentucky power 1.6 public service company of oklahoma pso 1.7 southwestern electric power company 1.8 other subsidiaries 2 nuclear 3 hybrid technology 4 solar and wind energy 5 path proposal 6 history 6.1 acquisitions 7 environmental record 7.1 justice department lawsuit 8 political influence 9 references 10 external links subsidiaries edit the company is divided into seven major geographic local operating companies aep ohio edit aep 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 . aep texas edit aep texas was formed from a merger of various predecessor utilities and joined aep as part of its acquisition of central and south west corporation in 1997 . it consists of aep texas north company formerly west texas utilities which operates in west texas and aep texas central company formerly central power and light which operates in south texas . 7 8 appalachian power edit appalachian power is based in charleston west virginia and owns the naming rights to appalachian power park in charleston . ap serves about 1 million customers in parts of central and southern west virginia southwest virginia and parts of northeast tennessee specifically kingsport . cities in the appalachian power service territory include charleston and huntington west virginia ; roanoke virginia and kingsport . until the 21st century aep s operations in tennessee were part of a separate operating company kingsport power company . however since the turn of the millennium kingsport power s operations have been almost completely merged with those of appalachian power and aep considers appalachian power to be the operating company in the kingsport area . while kingsport power still legally exists the kingsport power name is almost never used anymore except for regulatory formality . wheeling power based in wheeling west virginia ; was long treated as a de facto part of ohio power but is now reckoned as part of appalachian power . in 2015 aep backed hb 2201 legislation that would eliminate solar leasing throughout west virginia . rooftop solar leasing gives more consumers the opportunity to adopt solar energy by making initial rooftop solar costs less expensive . the spread of distributed rooftop solar is seen as a threat to aep s current monopoly status . 9 indiana michigan power edit indiana michigan power serves northeastern and east central indiana including muncie and fort wayne ; and parts of north central indiana and southwest michigan including south bend st. joseph benton harbor and three rivers . in 2015 aep supported the utility bill hb 1320 in indiana in an effort to halt rooftop solar in the state . the bill is designed to curtail the regulation of indiana s oil and gas industry as well as end consumer energy choice . 6 kentucky power edit kentucky power serves most of eastern kentucky the area abutting the appalachian power service area including communities of pikeville hazard and ashland . kentucky power is currently headquartered in frankfort kentucky but announced on july 13 2016 that they will be moving their state headquarters to ashland kentucky by january 1 2017 . 10 public service company of oklahoma pso edit pso was one of the four csw operating companies when csw merged with aep . 11 incorporated in 1913 pso serves approximately 540 000 customers in eastern and southwestern oklahoma . its headquarters are in tulsa . pso has 4 269 megawatts of generating capacity and provides electricity to 232 cities and towns across a service area encompassing 30 000 square miles . 12 in april 2014 oklahoma governor mary fallin signed into law an aep backed bill that would add a tax onto anyone in the state who adopted rooftop solar . 13 this anti solar legislation was headed by rep. mike turner oklahoma politician r. edmond known for both his support of ending rooftop solar and legislation he introduced to end all marriage in the state . after partnering with aep to pass the legislation rep. turner suffered a failed federal congressional race . 14 southwestern electric power company edit often called swepco the southwestern electric power company serves most of western arkansas northwestern louisiana and northeastern texas . like pso it was one of the four csw operating companies . 11 between 2013 and 2014 aep under subsidiary swepco tried to eliminate a fundamental solar policy net metering at the lpsc several times and failed each time . swepco also backed openly anti solar candidate eric skrmetta who has been widely criticized for receiving 2 3 of his campaign contributions from entities he regulates . 15 in arkansas swepco is expected in 2015 to ask regulators to allow them to pass along the costs of building and running the john w. turk jr. coal plant the most expensive project in state history to arkansas ratepayers . this process is expected to elicit similar controversy to what has plagued the plant since construction . 16 other subsidiaries edit aep also bought much of the town of cheshire ohio where the gavin power plant is located due to pollution issues . 17 in 2004 aep announced their plans to build one or more integrated gasification combined cycle igcc coal fired power plant which is expected to reduce emissions while providing additional electricity capacity to the customers served by aep . 18 the company also operates its own inland barge line aep river operations formerly memco barge line and owns major tracts of land throughout its service areas . in august 2008 aep has formed a joint venture company with duke energy to build and own new electric transmission assets . 19 it is the largest shareholder in the ohio valley electric corporation ovec . ovec is an associate company of aep not a subsidiary because aep owns less than half of it . nuclear edit aep owns and operates the donald c. cook nuclear power plant . this accounts for 6 % of the generation portfolio . hybrid technology edit aep is expanding its green efforts to include 18 more international durastar hybrid diesel trucks . 20 aep is also teaming with ford for the integration of a vehicle to power grid communication system which allows hybrid vehicles to communicate with power companies to determine where how long and what it would cost to re charge a hybrid during travel . 21 solar and wind energy edit aep recently when signed a deal with wyandot solar llc to purchase power from one of the largest solar fields in the eastern united states of america based in upper sandusky ohio . 22 aep owns and operates the desert sky wind farm and the trent wind farm . 23 in 2009 aep partnered with other energy companies in commissioning a study of how to transmit wind energy generated in the upper midwest to consumers in the east . 24 aep currently gets .02 % of its energy from renewable energy resources like wind and solar . 25 they are planning to increase their reliance on coal in the next five years . 26 they occasionally support renewable energy in their utility territories but only when they can own it through their regulated assets . path proposal edit in 2007 aep has teamed with allegheny energy to propose the us 1.8 billion 27 28 and changed to us 2.1 billion in 2011 29 potomac appalachian transmission highline a 290 miles 470 km 765 kilovolt transmission line that would run through west virginia virginia and maryland . according to joe denault a volunteer spokesperson for the proposal the path proposal would incorporate new technology to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 380 000 short tons 340 000 t a year ; allow for the transmission of renewable energy sources such as wind solar and hydroelectric ; and generate 5 700 jobs with 420 million in employee compensation annually . 30 however many of these claims are disputed 31 and the proposal must pass several legal hurdles before moving forward . 32 on august 24 2012 pjm interconnection officially removed the path project from its long range expansion plans citing a slow economy for reducing the projected growth in electricity use . 33 history edit the american gas and electric company which would be renamed american electric power in 1958 was incorporated in 1906 . 34 it replaced electric company of america a holding company that had existed since 1899 . it built the first plant in the world to reheat steam to do double duty in the process of generating electricity 34 at philo ohio in 1923 . several of its holdings were divested following the passage of the public utility holding company act in 1935 ; these holdings would include atlantic city electric now a subsidiary of pepco holdings and scranton electric since absorbed by ppl . 35 however it retained its central system which ran between michigan and virginia . it moved its headquarters from new york city to columbus ohio in the 1980s . on may 1 1999 the north american electric power industry tested and cleared 75 percent of the u.s. electricity system for compliance with the year