AEP sees business demand rising for electricity
Demand for electricity from American Electric Power's commercial and industrial customers is showing signs of life after being largely shut down during the spring because of the pandemic.
Columbus-based AEP on Thursday reported profit of $748.6 million, or $1.51 per share, for the three months that ended June 30. That was about flat with the same quarter of 2019.
Discounting one-time charges, the company earned $728.2 million, or $1.47 per share, in the most recent quarter, also in line with the year-ago quarter. Revenue fell to $4.1 billion in the quarter from $4.3 billion a year ago.
AEP said residential demand for electricity, adjusted for weather, has risen this year as consumers continue to hunker down at home to ride out COVID-19.
The utility said it is also starting to see more demand from offices, restaurants, factories, stores and other businesses that were closed in the spring.
“As we projected, both our commercial and industrial classes are showing steady improvement from the low we experienced in the second quarter as some businesses reopened over the summer,” Nick Akins, AEP'S chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement.
“We expect this trend will continue into 2021, barring additional unanticipated negative economic impacts from the pandemic.”
Akins told analysts on a conference call that there was nothing new for AEP to report regarding a potential repeal of House Bill 6 in Ohio or the federal investigation surrounding the $61 million Statehouse scandal to get the bill passed.
The bill, passed a year ago, bails out the state's two nuclear power plants owned by a former Firstenergy subsidiary now called Energy Harbor. The bill also benefits two coal-fired power plants owned by a group of power companies, including AEP.
The Dispatch reported in July that AEP contributed $350,000 to a nonprofit group called Empowering Ohio's Economy Inc.
Empowering Ohio's Economy, operated solely with AEP funds, gave $150,000 to Generation Now, which received $60 million from Firstenergy-related interests to ensure passage and survival of the bailout. mawilliams@dispatch.com @Bizmarkwilliams