AEP Update

I had a long conversation with Carol Huffman, the net metering director for the local Roanoke area. I made my suggestion about allowing folks to opt in for support of local generation buy back subsidies. She was polite and said she would "pass it along" to Ohio (home base). She pointed out the AEP was concentrating sustainability efforts on those states that mandated it. I pointed out that as the largest coal fired utility in the western hemisphere, they had a special responsibility toward mitigating climate change. She then went into the company line of their commitment to "clean coal" and their pilot sequestration projects. I told her that while I support anything they do in this area, that does not relieve them of supporting local generation. I tried to make the point that this would be a win-win, as the local producers could get a reasonable return on their investment from on site generation and AEP would get good public relations as being the utility to go beyond the state mandate and that it would be at no cost to them.

We will see, more if it develops.