AEP secures 13 GW of gas turbines as generation ‘central’ to growth plans
Get the Energy newsletter
Daily energy & climate — solar, EVs, oil, the policy fights and tech bets shaping the transition. Free.
- American Electric Power secured 3 GW of gas turbine capacity in Q2, bringing total turbine supply deployable by 2031 to roughly 13 GW, plus options for an additional 10 GW by 2035, CEO Bill Fehrman said on the quarterly earnings call.
- AEP's turbine supply agreements are with GE Vernova and Mitsubishi, with Fehrman calling turbines "a scarce resource" that "will become increasingly more valuable" and saying the company will "continue to be aggressive" on supply.
- AEP utilities expect to add 27.2 GW by 2035, with the mix skewed toward gas: 15.3 GW gas, 6.4 GW solar, 5.1 GW wind, and 500 MW of storage, per the company's earnings presentation.
- AEP Ohio agreed to acquire the 710-MW coal-fired Longview power plant near Maidsville, West Virginia, along with a permit to build a 1.2-GW gas-fired plant at the same site, the Financial Times reported.
- AEP's contracted large-load pipeline — dominated by data centers — grew to 69 GW from 63 GW in Q1, including 45 GW in Texas, 12 GW in Ohio, and 12 GW across Oklahoma, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Virginia.
- AEP's stance toward the PJM Interconnection has warmed: three months ago Fehrman said the utility was considering leaving over governance and resource-adequacy concerns, but he now describes "significantly increased" productive engagement with PJM and FERC.
- AEP is operating under a $78 billion five-year capital plan covering 2026–2030 and is slated to unveil the next iteration of the plan this fall.
Why it matters: Gas accounts for roughly 56% of AEP's planned new capacity additions through 2035 (15.3 GW of 27.2 GW), making the utility's turbine supply position a direct hedge against equipment scarcity as data-center developers line up. The 6 GW quarter-over-quarter jump in contracted large loads — to 69 GW — quantifies the demand pull driving that buildout, while the thawing PJM relationship removes a major regulatory overhang that had put AEP's regional footprint in play.
