US utility American Electric Power (AEP) has added an additional 28GW of load to its interconnection pipeline since October, with roughly 80 percent tied to large technology companies.

In its Q4 earnings, the utility said the additions had brought its total secured incremental demand to 56GW by 2030 under signed agreements.

According to AEP EVP and CFO Trevor Mihalik, much of the growth was driven by additions in the ERCOT, PJM Interconnection, and SPP markets.

“In PJM, contracted load increased by 4GW, driven largely by activity in Ohio. This growth continues to be reinforced by data center development, and importantly, about 90 percent of the incremental PJM load is supported by executed take-or-pay electric service agreements or ESAs,” he said during the earnings call. “We are also seeing positive momentum in the SPP region in Oklahoma, where contracted load has grown by 1GW, driven primarily by a commitment with a large aluminum smelting customer. Together, PJM and SPP account for the 5GW increase in our contracted load outlook.”

The utility's biggest growth market was Texas, where load increased from 13GW in October to 36GW, driven predominantly by hyperscale data center development. The company described the broader demand shift as “generational,” underpinned by AI and cloud build-outs.

“AEP Texas has signed LOAs for 36GW with large industrial customers, well-capitalized hyperscalers, and mega-sized data center developers.... This is a significant increase of 23GW since October,” said Mihalik.

To meet the growing demand, AEP extended its $72 billion five-year capital investment plan, identifying an additional $5bn to $8bn in transmission and generation projects. The utility noted that the investments required to serve the recently added 28GW of load are not yet included in the existing plan, suggesting further potential increases in infrastructure spending.

On the generation side, the company reported that it has secured more than 10GW of gas turbines, added 2.2GW of new generation capacity in 2025, and advanced major 765kV transmission projects.

The utility acknowledged that, due to grid constraints, it's unlikely to be able to connect the majority of the new data centers in the short term. However, the utility indicated that through off-grid power arrangements, such as with hydrogen fuel cell developer Bloom Energy, it could offer data centers an expedited route to market.

“In many of these cases where the grid connection could be out for a couple of years, we've been able to offer to them the capabilities of bringing the data centers online significantly faster through deals like the Bloom Energy deal,” said AEP chairman, president, and CEO Bill Fehrman.

AEP partnered with Bloom in 2024 to secure up to 1GW of the company’s solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs).

In the call, the utility AEP acknowledged affordability concerns as capital spending ramps up. The company said it is implementing and seeking approval for new rate structures to ensure that large data center operators bear the infrastructure costs associated with their interconnections. Mechanisms have been approved in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia, with additional proposals under review across other jurisdictions.

In July, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) approved a settlement that required data centers to pay for a portion of their energy requests, even if the electricity is not ultimately needed. The new rules saw AEP Ohio slash its data center demand in half, with demand falling from 30GW to 13GW last October.

AEP is one of the country’s biggest electric utility companies, serving 11 US states, including data center hotspots Ohio and Texas. AEP has seven operating companies covering Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.