American Electric Power is in the early permitting phase for small modular reactors in Indiana and Virginia as data centers and industrial facilities drive demand for power.
Dive Brief:
- American Electric Power expects the weather-normalized retail electric load across its 11-state service area will grow about 8.6% a year, on average, over the next three years, driven by new data centers and industrial facilities, company officials said during a quarterly earnings conference call on Thursday.
- AEP’s load growth estimate is based on customers making financial commitments to bring online facilities that would use about 20 GW, according to the utility company. That could require $10 billion in spending on transmission, distribution and generation infrastructure that isn’t in AEP’s $54 billion, five-year capital plan, said Bill Fehrman, AEP president and CEO.
- AEP has started early site permit work to build small modular reactors in Indiana and Virginia and is in talks with potential offtake customers, according to Fehrman. The company is “quite a ways away from having anything firmed up or really any firm structure at this point,” however, he said.
Feb. 18, 2025
Ethan Howland
Senior Reporter
utilitydive.com