Transmission refers to the high-voltage system of power lines that move electricity from the point of generation to where it is transformed into lower-voltage energy for safe delivery into homes, offices and factories. We have 39,000 miles of lines that deliver power in our 11 states.
We believe it is critical for the United States to build a new, interstate extra-high voltage (EHV) transmission system to ensure future energy reliability. The existing transmission grid, while functional, cannot handle the existing traffic efficiently and concurrently bring large quantities of renewable power from where it can be produced to the nation’s population centers. Transmission system shortfalls have been more frequent and larger — the 2003 blackout caused 50 million people to lose their power within a minute.
According to the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC), the United States will need 14,500 miles of new transmission lines by 2016 to deliver all sources of electricity to these population centers. The siting challenges alone make this nearly impossible; opposition to siting a 90-mile transmission line from West Virginia to Virginia dragged out the completion of one AEP project for 16 years.
A new interstate grid also will help us to address the challenges of climate change and the need for greater energy independence by facilitating the transmission and encouraging the development
of renewable energy. Transmission
siting depends almost entirely on state approval. We believe that new EHV lines of 345 kV and higher should be regulated similarly to natural gas pipelines — by the federal government through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). (See the section on Public Policy for more information.)
We are encouraged by the introduction of federal legislation that will grant the FERC transmission siting authority, but we are concerned about provisions that would restrict these new lines to transmitting power from mostly renewable sources. This restriction would be unworkable and would deny the nation the flexibility it needs to meet future energy demands. This is an area of intense interest, and AEP expects to be fully involved as legislation moves forward. Some of our stakeholders would support a modern grid only if it is used for renewable energy. We disagree and oppose this position. It would be like exclusively allowing only plug-in electric vehicles on the nation’s highways. This is not practical or viable; neither companies nor regulators would invest in such a limited system.
Regardless of the regulatory system that is selected, as the nation enacts new mandates on the use of renewable energy, policymakers must recognize that EHV transmission will be required to efficiently and cost effectively bring that renewable energy to market. We support investor T. Boone Pickens’ energy independence plan (www.PickensPlan.com) that calls for more wind energy, a modern grid and shifting parts of the transportation sector to alternative fuels, such as natural gas and electricity. We agree with him that a robust EHV transmission system is needed to bring energy created by wind on the Western plains to market.
To spur the development of transmission, AEP Transmission Company, a wholly owned subsidiary, has entered into
several joint ventures and expects to be involved in more. Creating a separate transmission company gives us more
flexibility in structuring projects.
Transmission Line Miles by Operating Company
|
Company |
Total |
765 kV |
| AEP Appalachian Power |
30 |
— |
| Appalachian Power |
6,741 |
734 |
| Indiana Michigan Power |
5,344 |
615 |
| Kentucky Power |
1,234 |
258 |
| AEP Ohio |
9,232 |
509 |
| Public service Company of Oklahoma |
3,592 |
— |
| Southwestern Electric Power Company |
3,530 |
— |
| AEP Texas |
9,356 |
— |
