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AEP, Allegheny Announce Favorable Maryland Ruling in Transmission Line Case

^{Published on 2010-07-16 10:25:46 - Market Wire}
 

COLUMBUS, Ohio & GREENSBURG, Pa.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) and Allegheny Energy, Inc. (NYSE: AYE) today announced that the Maryland Public Service Commission has issued a favorable ruling with regard to the Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH).

"Potomac Edison indisputably qualifies as an aelectric company,a™"

Affiliates of AEP and Allegheny are seeking authorization to construct the PATH project, a 275-mile, 765-kilovolt transmission project extending from the Amos substation in Putnam County, W.Va., to a proposed substation in Frederick County, Md.

In a decision announced this week, the Commission confirmed that The Potomac Edison Company, an Allegheny affiliate, is a proper applicant to seek regulatory approvals to construct the Maryland portion of the project. The Commission stated that aPotomac Edison indisputably qualifies as an aelectric company,a™a as defined by Maryland law. Previously, the Commission ruled that it is authorized to issue approval only to an electric company.

Today Potomac Edison filed supplemental testimony with the Maryland Commission that strongly supports the need for PATH. This supplemental data incorporates new studies by independent grid operator PJM Interconnection recommending the construction of PATH to resolve numerous voltage-related issues and line overloads on the regiona™s electric transmission grid, which could threaten the reliability of the electric power supply and cause wide-area service interruptions. Affiliates of Allegheny Energy and AEP filed similar supplemental testimony last week in West Virginia, and plan to incorporate the most recent information into a new application to be filed in Virginia in the third quarter.

The latest analyses were conducted as part of PJMa™s 2010 Regional Transmission Expansion Plan (RTEP). The findings are consistent with previous studies recommending the construction of PATH. PJM has established a required in-service deadline for PATH of June 1, 2015, at the latest.

For more information about PATH, including the complete regulatory applications, visit the project website at [ www.pathtransmission.com ].

Allegheny Energy

Headquartered in Greensburg, Pa., Allegheny Energy is an investor-owned electric utility with total annual revenues of over $3 billion and more than 4,000 employees. The company owns and operates generating facilities and delivers low-cost, reliable electric service to 1.5 million customers in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland. For more information, visit our Web site at [ www.alleghenyenergy.com ].

American Electric Power

American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nationa™s largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nationa™s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765-kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEPa™s transmission system directly or indirectly serves about 10 percent of the electricity demand in the Eastern Interconnection, the interconnected transmission system that covers 38 eastern and central U.S. states and eastern Canada, and approximately 11 percent of the electricity demand in ERCOT, the transmission system that covers much of Texas. AEPa™s utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas). AEPa™s headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio. Visit AEP on the web at [ www.aep.com ].

In addition to historical information, this release may contain a number of "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as anticipate, expect, project, intend, plan, believe, and words and terms of similar substance used in connection with any discussion of future plans, actions, or events identify forward-looking statements. These include statements with respect to: rate regulation and the status of retail generation service supply competition in states served by Allegheny Energya™s distribution business, Allegheny Power; financing plans; demand for energy and the cost and availability of raw materials, including coal; provider-of-last-resort and power supply contracts; results of litigation; results of operations; internal controls and procedures; capital expenditures; status and condition of plants and equipment; capacity purchase commitments; and regulatory matters. Forward-looking statements involve estimates, expectations and projections and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that actual results will not materially differ from expectations. Actual results have varied materially and unpredictably from past expectations. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, among others, the following: plant performance and unplanned outages; changes in the price of power and fuel for electric generation; general economic and business conditions; changes in access to capital markets and actions of rating agencies; complications or other factors that render it difficult or impossible to obtain necessary lender consents or regulatory authorizations on a timely basis; environmental regulations; the results of regulatory proceedings, including proceedings related to rates; changes in industry capacity, development and other activities by Allegheny Energya™s competitors; changes in the weather and other natural phenomena; changes in customer switching behavior and their resulting effects on existing and future load requirements; changes in the underlying inputs and assumptions, including market conditions used to estimate the fair values of commodity contracts; changes in laws and regulations applicable to Allegheny Energy, its markets or its activities; the loss of any significant customers or suppliers; dependence on other electric transmission and gas transportation systems and their constraints or availability; inflationary and interest rate trends changes in market rules, including changes to PJM participant rules and tariffs; the effect of accounting pronouncementsissued periodically by accounting standard-setting bodies and accounting issues facing our organization; and the continuing effects of global instability, terrorism and war. Additional risks and uncertainties are identified and discussed in Allegheny Energya™s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.