American Electric Receives Approvals To Complete Separation Of Ohio Assets

(RTTNews) - American Electric Power (AEP) said Thursday it has received all necessary approvals to separate its AEP Ohio-owned generation assets from its Ohio distribution and transmission operations and complete transfer of that generation to AEP's competitive generation company - AEP Generation Resources Inc. - and regulated affiliates Appalachian Power and Kentucky Power.

The company received the final approvals from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, this week and expects to complete transfer of those assets effective December 31.

The FERC accepted AEP's application to terminate the interconnection agreement, or pool, that exists among AEP's utilities in the Midwest; approved a new Power Coordination Agreement among Appalachian Power, Kentucky Power and Indiana Michigan Power; and approved other tariff and financing-related filings. AEP's applications for the generation transfers were approved by the FERC April 29.

Approximately 11,200 megawatts of AEP Ohio-owned generation will be transferred to AEP Generation Resources. AEP Ohio's two-thirds ownership of John E. Amos Plant Unit 3 (867 MW) will transfer to Appalachian Power, and 50 percent of Mitchell Plant (800 MW) will transfer to Kentucky Power. Following the transfers and expected retirements through 2015, AEP Generation Resources expects to own approximately 8,700 MW.