American Electric Power (AEP) is one of the largest electric utilities in the U.S., generating, transmitting, and distributing electricity to roughly 5.6 million customers across 11 states. AEP operates primarily as a regulated utility — it owns and operates electric infrastructure and recovers costs plus an authorized return on equity through state- and FERC-approved rates. The core earnings driver is rate base growth: the more infrastructure AEP builds, the more earnings it can generate at its authorized ROE. AEP operates through four segments: Vertically Integrated Utilities (generation, transmission, and distribution in several states), Transmission and Distribution Utilities (wires-only in Texas and Ohio), AEP Transmission Holdco (FERC-regulated transmission, which contributes more than half of total operating earnings), and a smaller Generation & Marketing segment serving competitive retail and wholesale markets. AEP's growth strategy centers on a surge in electricity demand from data centers and industrial customers. AEP has contracted 56 gigawatts of incremental load backed by signed customer agreements, nearly doubling its existing ~37 GW system. To serve this demand, AEP has a $72 billion five-year capital plan (2025–2030) targeting 10% annual rate base growth, weighted toward transmission and generation. AEP owns more than 90% of the 765 kV transmission infrastructure in the U.S., which it argues is a key advantage in attracting hyperscalers like AWS, Google, and Meta.