COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Electric
Power (NYSE: AEP) subsidiary Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO) today
issued a request for proposals seeking long-term purchases of 65 megawatts
(MW) of new renewable energy resources to be operational by the end of
2010.
According to the RFP, proposals must rely on commercially proven
technologies for renewable energy, including wind; solar photovoltaic;
biomass firing or co-firing of agricultural crops and all energy crops;
hydro (as certified by the Low Impact Hydropower Institute); coal mine
methane; landfill gas; biogas digesters; and biomass firing or co-firing of
crop residues, animal waste and woody waste.
A pre-bid conference call for potential bidders will be conducted May 1
with proposals to be submitted by May 19. RFP information can be found at
http://www.SWEPCO.com/go/rfp .
The RFP is part of AEP's plan -- announced in 2007 -- to add 1,000 MW
of new wind or renewable energy by 2011 as a component of the company's
comprehensive strategy to address its greenhouse gas emissions. The
addition of renewable energy to AEP's energy portfolio avoids an increase
in greenhouse gas emissions that would otherwise occur if AEP used
traditional fossil generation to meet growing customer demand.
"Our commitment to add 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy to our
generation portfolio, combined with our investment in offset programs,
energy efficiency initiatives and new technology to reduce, capture and
store carbon dioxide emissions, will help mitigate our greenhouse gas
emissions while meeting increasing customer demand for electricity," said
Michael G. Morris, AEP's chairman, president and chief executive officer.
"There is no way to meet the growing electricity needs of our more than 5
million customers solely with additional renewable energy resources, but
they are an important part of our overall strategy to help the world
address global climate change."
"These contracts will be contingent on continuation of the Production
Tax Credit for renewable generation, as these credits help make renewable
energy cost-competitive with other generation sources," Morris said. "In
order for wind and other renewable generation to reach its full potential
in the United States, Congress needs to address the short-term nature and
the constant uncertainty surrounding the production tax credits. The
current system serves as a disincentive to investment and can increase the
cost of renewable energy for utility customers.
"We also need to address, on a national level, the fact that our
current transmission system cannot support significant growth in renewable
generation. Without regulatory policies that promote additional
transmission development, moving renewable power from where it can be
produced to where it is needed by customers will be an ongoing challenge,"
Morris said.
AEP issued another RFP for 100 MW of renewable energy to serve its
Appalachian Power customers April 1 and has completed three purchases of
long-term renewable energy capacity since the company made its 1,000-MW
commitment in 2007. The three purchases, all of wind energy, added 275 MW
of renewable capacity to serve AEP's customers in Indiana, West Virginia,
Virginia and Tennessee.
"We are taking a balanced approach to serving the growing electricity
needs of our SWEPCO customers in Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana," said
Venita McCellon-Allen, president and chief operating officer of SWEPCO.
"Adding 65 megawatts of renewable generation helps supplement our plans to
build an advanced ultra-supercritical coal-fueled power plant in Arkansas
and additional natural gas-fueled power plants in Arkansas and Louisiana to
fuel the significant growth in our region's economy."
AEP's wind portfolio -- prior to the recent RFPs -- is 1,050 MW, which
includes 310 MW of wind generation owned by AEP in Texas, long-term wind
purchase agreements reached before the company's 2007 commitment and
agreements reached after the 2007 commitment.
SWEPCO serves more than 464,000 customers in three states including
112,000 in western Arkansas, 176,000 in Northwest Louisiana, and 176,000 in
East and North Texas. SWEPCO's headquarters are in Shreveport, La.
American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities 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 network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage
transmission lines 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
ERCOT, the transmission system that covers much of Texas. AEP's utility
units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and
West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in 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.
This report made by American Electric Power and its Registrant
Subsidiaries contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Although the
registrants believe that their expectations are based on reasonable
assumptions, any such statements may be influenced by factors that could
cause actual outcomes and results to be materially different from those
projected. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those in the forward-looking statements are: electric load
and customer growth; weather conditions, including storms; available
sources and costs of, and transportation for, fuels and the
creditworthiness and performance of fuel suppliers and transporters;
availability of generating capacity and the performance of AEP's generating
plants; AEP's ability to recover regulatory assets and stranded costs in
connection with deregulation; AEP's ability to recover increases in fuel
and other energy costs through regulated or competitive electric rates;
AEP's ability to build or acquire generating capacity (including the
company's ability to obtain any necessary regulatory approvals and permits)
when needed at acceptable prices and terms and to recover those costs
through applicable rate cases or competitive rates; new legislation,
litigation and government regulation including requirements for reduced
emissions of sulfur, nitrogen, mercury, carbon, soot or particulate matter
and other substances; timing and resolution of pending and future rate
cases, negotiations and other regulatory decisions (including rate or other
recovery of new investments in generation, distribution and transmission
service and environmental compliance); resolution of litigation (including
disputes arising from the bankruptcy of Enron Corp. and related matters);
AEP's ability to constrain operation and maintenance costs; the economic
climate and growth in AEP's service territory and changes in market demand
and demographic patterns; inflationary and interest rate trends; volatility
in the financial markets, particularly developments affecting the
availability of capital on reasonable terms and developments impairing
AEP's ability to refinance existing debt at attractive rates; AEP's ability
to develop and execute a strategy based on a view regarding prices of
electricity, natural gas and other energy-related commodities; changes in
the creditworthiness of the counterparties with whom AEP has contractual
arrangements, including participants in the energy trading market; actions
of rating agencies, including changes in the ratings of debt; volatility
and changes in markets for electricity, natural gas, coal, nuclear fuel and
other energy-related commodities; changes in utility regulation, including
the potential for new legislation in Ohio and the allocation of costs
within regional transmission organizations; accounting pronouncements
periodically issued by accounting standard-setting bodies; the impact of
volatility in the capital markets on the value of the investments held by
AEP's pension, other postretirement benefit plans and nuclear
decommissioning trust; prices for power that AEP generates and sells at
wholesale; changes in technology, particularly with respect to new,
developing or alternative sources of generation; other risks and unforeseen
events, including wars, the effects of terrorism (including increased
security costs), embargoes and other catastrophic events.
SOURCE American Electric Power
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Related links:
http://www.aep.com
http://www.SWEPCO.com/go/rfp
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/042050.html /
CONTACT:
Melissa McHenry, Manager, Corporate Media
Relations, American Electric Power, +1-614-716-1120
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