Facility will ensure compliance with reliability mandates and
recommendations
COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Electric
Power (NYSE: AEP) today dedicated a new 83,500-square-foot facility in the
Village of New Albany that houses the company's electricity transmission
control operations.
AEP's new transmission operations center addresses federal government
and industry requirements and recommendations resulting from the September
2001 terrorist attacks, the Northeast blackout of August 2003 and enactment
of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
"This new facility represents a significant investment in our
transmission system and shows our commitment to ensuring transmission
reliability," said Michael G. Morris, AEP chairman, president and chief
executive officer. "The center exemplifies AEP's leadership in developing,
demonstrating and deploying innovative technologies that will secure and
protect infrastructures that are critical to our nation's electricity
delivery system."
The operations center performs real-time monitoring of the transmission
grid and communicates with the regional transmission organizations (RTOs)
and six AEP transmission dispatching centers within the company's 11-state
service territory.
The center has layers of physical security and monitoring and
access-control systems to ensure safety and reliability. It was built to
withstand an F4 tornado and features system redundancies.
The new facility also is a candidate for Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) certification. LEED focuses on sustainable site
development, energy efficiency, water savings and selection of "green"
materials and resources.
Construction of the center started in 2006, and operations began there
two months ago with approximately 100 employees who transferred from AEP's
former operations center in downtown Columbus. That location is now a
backup operations center and training facility.
Speaking at today's dedication ceremony in addition to AEP's Morris
were Federal Energy Regulatory Commission members Jon Wellinghoff and
Philip Moeller; Rick Sergel, president and chief executive officer of the
North American Electric Reliability Corp.; Terry Boston, president and
chief executive officer of PJM Interconnection, the RTO in which AEP's
eastern footprint is located; and Nancy Ferguson, mayor of the Village of
New Albany.
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.
SOURCE American Electric Power
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Related links:
http://www.aep.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/042050.html /
CONTACT:
Pat D. Hemlepp, Director, Corporate Media
Relations of American Electric Power, +1-614-716-1620
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