AEP secures 13 GW of gas turbines as generation ‘central’ to growth plans

American Electric Power, which serves customers in states including Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia, says it has locked in enough natural gas turbines to build 13 gigawatts of new power plants by 2031, with options for another 10 gigawatts by 2035. The company's CEO says these gas plants will be central to its growth, partly to replace aging coal plants and older gas plants, and partly to meet a surge in demand from data centers and large industrial customers, whose contracted power needs have grown to 69 gigawatts across AEP's territory.

For homeowners, this points to a broader trend: utilities are building more gas-fired power plants rather than relying only on wind, solar or storage, at least in the near term. AEP's plans call for 15.3 gigawatts of new gas capacity by 2035, alongside smaller additions of solar, wind and battery storage. AEP is also buying an existing coal plant and a gas plant permit in West Virginia as part of this build-out. This kind of large capital spending, part of a $78 billion five-year plan, tends to show up eventually in electric rates, since utilities recover these costs from customers over time.

The company is also in talks with PJM Interconnection, the regional grid operator covering much of AEP's footprint, over how the grid is run and how new large customers like data centers get connected. AEP had considered leaving PJM earlier this year but now says talks have improved. None of this requires action from homeowners now, but it may affect future electricity costs and how new demand, like data centers, gets factored into local utility bills.