In 1956, President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act, creating the interstate highway system we enjoy today. Eisenhower envisioned vast societal benefits for national defense, economic development, and personal safety.

Today, more than fifty years later, AEP has become the leading utility proponent of the need for a nationwide interstate transmission system modeled after the national interstate highway network.

The nation is in critical need of new transmission infrastructure to eliminate transmission “bottlenecks” that reduce system reliability and raise energy costs for electricity users.

We believe that our vision will efficiently deliver wholesale power regionally within a competitive market while enhancing regional reliability. The concept is embodied in our ongoing efforts to use AEP’s proven 765-kilovolt transmission technology to address constraints affecting the nation’s transmission grid.

AEP continues to extend its concept and develop new projects as part of a larger vision and mission for its transmission business. In keeping with that vision AEP intends to:

• Maintain its leadership in technical innovation of transmission systems
• Set the standards for transmission safety, efficiency and reliability
• Provide for robust market competition that will benefit customers by eliminating bottlenecks in the U.S. transmission grid, and
• Reduce the need for new generation by facilitating the optimal economic dispatch of existing generation assets