American Electric Power to invest $17.7 billion in infrastructure
American Electric Power, a Columbus, Ohio-based energy company, will invest about $17.7 billion in its infrastructure over the next three years improve service to customers.
Specifically, the company will invest $17.7 billion in capital over the next three years – including $12.8 billion in transmission and distribution systems and $1.7 billion in renewable energy, Nicholas Akins, AEP chairman, president and chief executive officer, explained at the company’s annual meeting this week. The investments will support AEP’s operating earnings growth rate of 5 percent to 7 percent, Akins said.
“AEP is positioned as a premier regulated energy company, with nearly all of our forecasted earnings coming from our regulated businesses,” Akins said. “Our 17,600 employees are focused on providing innovative energy solutions to our customers, integrating new technologies and building a smarter, cleaner and more resilient energy system.”
The $1.7 billion investment in renewable energy does not include the company’s 2,000-megawatt Wind Catcher project. The Wind Catcher project will bring clean energy to customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas if approved by regulators in those states.
Akins reported that AEP increased its quarterly dividend by 5.1 percent to 62 cents per share and delivered a shareholder return of 20.9 percent in 2017.
At the meeting, AEP shareholders elected 12 directors including Akins; David Anderson of Greenwich, Connecticut; Barnie Beasley Jr. of Sylvania, Georgia; Ralph Crosby Jr. of McLean, Virginia; Linda Goodspeed of Marco Island, Florida; Thomas Hoaglin of Columbus, Ohio; Sandra Beach Lin of Flower Mound, Texas; Richard Notebaert of Naples, Florida; Lionel Nowell III of Marco Island, Florida; Stephen Rasmussen of Columbus, Ohio; Oliver Richard III of Lake Charles, Louisiana; and Sara Martinez Tucker of Dallas, Texas.
