Allegheny Energy & American Electric Power: New Application For High Power Electricity Line

PATH Files New Application in Maryland; Requests Withdrawal in Virginia

Allegheny Energy, Inc. and American Electric Power today asked Maryland to consider its high power transmission line application and withdrew its application in Virginia regarding the Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH) project in order to complete the project by June 2014.

The project consists of a 765-kilovolt transmission line extending approximately 275 miles from the Amos Substation in Putnam County, W.Va., to the proposed Kemptown Substation near New Market, Md. In today’s filings:

• The Potomac Edison Company, an Allegheny affiliate, submitted a new application to the Maryland Public Service Commission requesting authorization to construct the 20-mile Maryland segment.

• PATH Allegheny Virginia Transmission Corporation, also an Allegheny affiliate, asked the Virginia State Corporation Commission to allow the withdrawal of its application and to grant an immediate suspension of the current procedural schedule. PATH plans to file a new application for the 31-mile Virginia segment in early 2010.

The West Virginia Public Service Commission is also reviewing an application for authorization to construct the PATH project in West Virginia.

Allegheny Energy, headquartered in Greensburg, Pa., 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.

American Electric Power, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, 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. (Business Wire, 12/21/09)