DevelopOhio

By 2020, American Electric Power Company Inc. (AEP) wants to build 500 megawatts (MW) of wind power and 400 MW of solar power in Ohio, but the company does not yet know how much the proposal will cost customers, Columbus Business First reports. William Allen, AEP’s managing director of regulatory case management, “said in regulatory filings that the utility would seek to recover costs” associated with building renewable power generation operations, according to the article. AEP CEO Nick Akins said the utility has “(long-term agreements) on wind power that are very competitive” and that “community-scale solar . . . is still a credible option and will continue to be an even better option.” AEP plans to add even more renewable generation by 2033, totaling 2,809 MW of solar and 5,650 MW of wind power, “while retiring 5,738 megawatts of coal.” The utility “said it will file a carbon emissions reduction plan by the end of this year ‘indicating how the company and its affiliates intend to promote fuel diversification and carbon emission reduction, including an analysis of the economic impact of any proposals.’” For more, read the full article.