AEP consumes approximately 77 million tons of coal and 103 billion cubic feet
of natural gas annually. Approximately 90 percent of the electricity we produce comes from fossil fuels, and the remainder comes from nuclear, hydroelectric and wind power. As we strive toward achieving a sustainable electricity future, we must recognize and take into account certain realities — that about 50 percent of the nation's daily electricity comes from coal; that hundreds of thousands of jobs in hundreds of communities across the country depend on coal, with no other near-term means of support; and that we do not yet have the technologies or resources needed to make a wholesale transition away from coal. We also must recognize that coal is a relatively abundant, inexpensive, domestic source of energy, which raises additional economic, social, political and national security issues.
We know that coal, as plentiful as it is, is not a sustainable resource and comes with an environmental cost. We expect coal and other fossil fuels to be in the political crosshairs in the push for ‘green collar' jobs to increase America's renewable energy production. We support this push for technology and believe that it must include carbon capture and storage and new infrastructure, such as an EHV interstate transmission grid, that can efficiently deliver electricity from both renewable and non-renewable resources.
Our stakeholders challenge us to see "beyond coal." The immediate need, and where AEP can do the most good, is to focus on developing and deploying advanced coal technologies, such as carbon capture and storage, that allow us to use coal in a more environmentally acceptable way.
We are asking our stakeholders to help us persuade legislators, regulators and policymakers to support policies and incentives that accelerate advanced coal technology. Many of them have agreed to do so. At the same time, we recognize we will be retiring older, inefficient coal units sooner, increasing the percentage of renewable energy we buy, making conversions in some plants to co-fire biomass and possibly increasing the capacity at our nuclear units. We expect that approximately 20 percent of our coal-fired fleet will be retired within the next 15 to 20 years.
