American Electric Power (AEP)

Analysis and information

What it does

American Electric Power, based in Columbus, Ohio, delivers electricity to 5.6 million customers in 11 states. It runs the largest US transmission system, with about 40,000 line miles. It owns or contracts about 34,000 MW of generating capacity.

Role in the theme

In Power for data centers, AEP connects and serves large new loads, including hyperscalers. It counts load only when fully executed agreements or letters of agreement back it. On that basis, it expects incremental contracted load to reach 84 GW by 2031.

Latest

• 2026-10-28, Q3 results: GAAP earnings of $2.18 per share and operating earnings of $2.23 per share, up from $1.82 and $1.80 a year earlier.
• 2026-10-28, load: it signed 15 GW of new load commitments in the quarter.
• 2026-10-28, capital plan: $100 billion for 2027 to 2031. That includes about $37 billion for transmission, $36 billion for generation backed by long-term customer contracts, and about $22 billion for distribution. It expects rate base to reach $162 billion by 2031.
• 2026-10-28, guidance: it expects 2026 operating earnings at or above the high end of $6.25-6.55 per share. It set ranges of $6.75-7.05 for 2027 and $7.40-7.70 for 2028.
• 2026-10-28, customer bills: it said take-or-pay contracts with large customers could offset up to $21 billion of fixed costs for residential customers, up from $16 billion. This applies in its vertically integrated states.

What to watch

• New load agreements, and how much contracted load reaches service.
• Texas: AEP Texas operates in ERCOT. ERCOT's audit of proposed data centers is due to report findings in early December.
• The second proposed rate reduction in Indiana, which AEP links to large-load growth.
• Next report: date not confirmed.