November 04, 2009 04:45 PM Eastern Time 

PATH Agrees to Extend Procedural Schedule for Power Line in West Virginia

GREENSBURG, Pa. & COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Allegheny Energy (NYSE: AYE) and American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) announced today that their affiliates have filed a response to a motion by the Staff of the West Virginia Public Service Commission (PSC) to dismiss an application to build the Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH).

In today’s filing, the PATH applicants agree to postpone a decision in West Virginia if a satisfactory extension of the current procedural schedule is established. The applicants also indicated that a similar request would be filed with the Virginia State Corporation Commission.

Requests for revised procedural schedules in West Virginia and Virginia – combined with a decision in the near future to seek approval for the Maryland segments of PATH – would effectively align the proceedings in the three states. It also would enable the project to meet its required in-service deadline in 2014.

In September, the Maryland commission ruled that procedurally, The Potomac Edison Company, an Allegheny Energy subsidiary, may not seek authorization to construct PATH on behalf of its affiliate, PATH Allegheny Transmission Company, LLC. Citing the project’s uncertainty in Maryland, commission staffs in Virginia and West Virginia last month requested dismissal, without prejudice, of the PATH application. In response to the staff motions, PATH reiterated that the overall project route and eastern terminus at the proposed Kemptown substation near New Market, Md., remain unchanged.

Allegheny Energy and American Electric Power, partners in the joint venture to build the 280-mile multi-state transmission line, remain committed to the PATH project. According to the most recent analysis by regional grid operator PJM Interconnection, PATH is needed by June 2014 to resolve reliability concerns on the existing system.

For more information on the project, including maps and full state applications, please visit the project Web site 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 1.6 million customers in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia. 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 nation’s largest generators of electricity, owning more than 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’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. AEP’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. AEP’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). AEP’s headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio. More information is available at www.aep.com.