Greenhouse Gas Offsets
Credible, enforceable greenhouse gas offsets are needed to address climate change. AEP is investing in a variety of offsets – including forestry projects and methane capture, and many stakeholders would like us to expand our reach even beyond our current efforts.

We invest in forestry projects because they support biodiversity while serving as an efficient method of carbon storage. We have not, however, been able to meet our 2007 goal to begin tripling our annual investments in forestry projects due to competition for private lands from crop producers. Such competition raises land costs substantially, making forestry offsets less cost-effective than other projects. In addition, the standards for forestry continue to be in a state of flux, so we are seeking projects that will "count" in the regulatory framework of the future.

By expanding our original focus on forestry projects to include other kinds of verifiable domestic offsets, we remain on target to meet our post-2010 carbon offset goals. We will continue working through these emerging issues with our stakeholders to resolve differences of opinion to stay on track in terms of total climate change impacts.