As one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, we strive to reduce the environmental impact of our operations while providing reliable electricity for our customers.
- Climate change is a global issue that requires a global solution.
- Regulations addressing climate change should account for the current state of emissions-reducing technologies.
- Regulations should consider the significant emission reductions already achieved through the transition of our nation’s electricity generation fleet.
In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) finalized its Clean Power Plan designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from existing coal-fueled power plants. The U.S. Supreme Court placed a hold on the plan’s implementation in early 2016 to allow for a thorough legal review of the new rule.
AEP already has cut its carbon dioxide emissions 39 percent from 2000 levels and expects emissions to continue declining in the coming years as we use less coal and increase our use of natural gas and renewables to generate electricity, and as we use energy efficiency and demand response programs to help our customers manage their energy use.
We’ve proactively supported a number of climate change public policy initiatives and have made significant investments in clean-coal technologies, including advancing the world’s first integrated carbon dioxide capture and storage project and building and operating the only ultra-supercritical coal unit in the U.S. We continue to investigate technologies that can supply affordable and reliable electricity while reducing the environmental impact of the power generation process. We also are expanding our transmission infrastructure to allow greater integration of renewable and other intermittent, non-emitting resources on the grid.
For more detailed information, refer to the Climate Change discussion in our Corporate Accountability Report.