AEP Retirees & Alumni

By: Teresa Hamilton Hall

The Bluefield and Roanoke Chapters are active VREA participants. This photo was taken during a Bluefield VREA spring luncheon at the Bluefield Elks Lodge.

ROANOKE, Va. –  As a way to promote fellowship among retirees and long-term employees, AEP funds Veteran and Retired Employees Associations. The group is made up of active employees who have been employed by AEP for 15 or more years, along with the retirees and surviving spouses of any AEP Company.

Appalachian Power has active VREA chapters in Virginia and West Virginia. For information on the Roanoke Chapter, contact Patricia Short at pashort1130@comcast.net or Wayne Alexander at walexan894@aol.com. For West Virginia information, contact Wayne Pugh at wtpugh@suddenlink.net.

Gonzalez, family members and friends delivered school backpacks to Ed Downs Fine Arts Academy in San Benito.

SAN BENITO, Texas — Victor Gonzalez, service mechanic in San Benito, always knew that when he was in a position to help his fellow man, he would not hesitate to do it.

“I grew up poor,” Gonzalez said. “And now that I can help my community, I do it in any way I can. Whether it is a benefit barbecue or anything else I can do, I will always try to help. If someone does not step up and take the lead, no one will. You just have to talk to people and share ideas. It will all fall into place and it will happen.’

Gonzalez, his wife Marisela, and their friends David and Julie Figueroa, made it happen a couple of weeks ago. They donated 200 backpacks filled with school supplies to Ed Downs Fine Arts Academy in San Benito.

“My mother-in-law helped us with 40 backpacks then David and Julie donated 60 more to make 100,” Gonzalez said. “We bought the other 100 backpacks and our family and friends helped us out, too, by donating the school supplies.”

Gonzalez stored all the backpacks and supplies at his home. A giant assembly line of friends and family helped to fill the backpacks. Gonzalez, his wife and their friends delivered the backpacks.

Victor Gonzalez

“We knew there were a lot of kids that were less fortunate at that school,” Gonzalez said. “It was very rewarding to go deliver backpacks. One mother cried when we they registered for school because she did not expect her kids to get backpacks and supplies.”

This is not the first time Gonzalez has rallied friends and family to give back to his San Benito Community. In November, Gonzalez recruited the help of the city of San Benito and the San Benito school district to identify 30 needy families. Gonzalez then purchased 30 turkeys and asked for donations from his fellow employees at the San Benito Service Center to make Thanksgiving baskets. Two days before Thanksgiving Day, Gonzalez drove around town in his pickup delivering the food baskets.

Gonzalez also regularly organizes barbecue chicken plate fundraisers for organizations or families in need of financial help. Gonzalez donates the chicken and his time and asks for nothing in return. He has helped many families cover medical and funeral expenses in the past.

“If you stop and look around, there’s a lot of need,” Gonzalez said. “It’s very rewarding to be able to help others in need. When people get down on their luck or need help, it’s good to see a community rally around them and help them out.”

Earlier this year, Gonzalez was recognized with a place in the Rio Grande Valley’s Walk of Fame.

Every year during Borderfest, a spring cultural festival in the border town of Hidalgo, cities and chambers of commerce from across the Rio Grande Valley nominate individuals who have made significant civic contributions and made a difference in the RGV to the Walk of Fame.

San Benito Mayor Ben Gomez nominated Gonzalez for the honor.

“Victor has always helped this community,” Gomez said. “Even before I was mayor, Victor was helping in Christmas time buying gifts for kids or ornaments and decorations. He always found a way to help. He is my appointee to the special events board with the city and it takes a lot of work to be a volunteer. There is no salary so he does it because he loves his community and wants to help. That’s why I nominated him.”

If there was ever a time for a break on Wall Street, August would be the time. Once Labor Day passes, investors dial back in and turn their attention toward company updates. Intensity increases in the months leading up to the industry’s EEI Financial Conference in November where AEP will release details on 2020 earnings targets, updated capital forecast plans and other financial indicators. This Street Wise edition summarizes current sector themes commanding investor attention for the second half of 2019, including economic uncertainty in addition to the impact of lower interest rates on pending rate cases.

Economic Uncertainty and the U.S.-China Trade War

When the economy slows and uncertainty presents itself, defensive stocks such as utilities appeal to investors.

According to Neil Kalton of Wells Fargo Equity Research, “The utility sector continues to benefit from low interest rates and economic uncertainty. The utility sector keeps chugging along boosted by declining long-term interest rates (good for valuations) and strengthening fundamentals (healthy capital expenditure visibility plus improving regulatory compacts). The sector looks attractive relative to long-term interest rates and continues to offer investors a nice anchor in the portfolio in the face of intensifying macroeconomic uncertainties.”

Slowing industrial demand has been a byproduct of the trade war between the U.S. and China and impacts utilities with industrial consumers who rely on exports.

Steve Fleishman of Wolfe Research noted the following, “Second quarter sales showed further industrial sales weakening. AEP, Southern Company and others specifically called out the impact of tariffs and related export weakness on sales. A bright spot continues to be sales to energy customers but this seems due for a pause in the second half of 2019 as we see more production slowdowns. Residential and commercial sales held up better, weather normalized, and they are higher margin customers. Job growth and high consumer confidence are helping. Nonetheless, we worry these could also trend down if the economy weakens.”

Andrew Weisel of Scotiabank also touched on the impact of lower industrial demand stating that, “A utility’s earnings per share (EPS) growth is not largely driven by load growth, but rather capital expenditures and ability to earn the allowed return on equity (ROE). Moreover, industrial sales are lower margin. Still, over time, lower demand could drive questions around affordability and/or the need to add generation, net of retirements.” However, Andrew further notes that although EPS could potentially take a hit, utilities’ Price to Earnings ratio (P/E) could trend upwards due to a macroeconomic slowdown.

Low Interest Rates Compared to Authorized ROE

A frequent question among investors is whether lower interest rates will put downward pressure on authorized ROEs in pending rate cases. While interest rates do not move in unison with the federal funds rate and ROEs tend to be less reactive when interest rates go up or down, authorized returns have generally trended in the same direction as interest rates over time.

According to Neil Kalton of Wells Fargo Equity Research, “Since 2015, average allowed ROEs for electric utilities have been very sticky in the 9.6 to 9.7% range as (1) overall customer rate increases have been modest given low gas prices, falling renewable prices and the benefits of tax reform and (2) utilities continue to invest in the local economies and can deploy capital into the state(s) that provide the highest economic incentive to do so. While we expect these factors will continue to support ROEs near the current levels, we would not be surprised to see a resumption of the pre-2016 trend of gradual reductions in the 10 to 20 basis point range.”

Julien Dumoulin-Smith of Bank of America Merrill Lynch noted, “While ROEs do not necessarily move in lock-step with U.S. 30-year treasury yields given a variety of factors (for example rate case timing), authorized returns have clearly followed the same trend as long-term interest rates. According to Regulatory Research Associates data, the average authorized ROE for electric general rate cases was 9.57% in first half of 2019 (versus 9.56% in 2018). We highlight that with 30-year treasury yields now 60 to 80 basis points below levels seen during the first half of 2019, we perceive an increased risk of a reduction in authorized ROEs in pending rate cases.”

Upcoming Events

This week, Investor Relations will accompany Brian Tierney (executive vice president and chief financial officer) and Julie Sloat (senior vice president, Treasury and Risk) in conducting one-on-one meetings with investors at the Barclays Energy-Power Conference on Sept. 4 in New York City. The following day, Tierney and Sloat will also attend meetings with S&P along with the members of the Investor Relations and Finance teams.

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Watch for future Street Wise editions discussing earnings and regulatory updates related to AEP and the electric utility industry.

The material contained within Street Wise is for informational purposes only. It is not, and should not be regarded as, investment advice or as a recommendation regarding any particular security or course of action, including actions in relation to equity or debt securities of AEP or its subsidiaries. You should consult financial advisors with respect to investments.

([View] the Street Wise archive.)

AEP closed at $91.15 Aug. 30, posting a total return of 1.02% since Aug. 16. During the same period, the S&P Electric Utilities Index total return was 2.09%, and the S&P 500 Index total return was 1.38%.

Editor's Note: In this three-part series, read Jeff Thigpen’s thoughts on driving the fully electric Nissan Leaf before, during and after his road trip across Louisiana.

Friday, July 5, 2019

I’m a member of SWEPCO’s Energy Efficiency & Consumer Programs team in Shreveport, Louisiana. In an effort to learn more about electric vehicles (EVs) in general, and the Nissan Leaf in particular, SWEPCO is exploring the possibility of leasing a Leaf. Driving an EV on a regular basis will give us hands-on learning experience as well as insight on the current state of EV charging infrastructure in our service territory. Specifically, the lack of charging locations along I-20 and I-49 as well as in our communities, and what this really means for an EV owner.

SWEPCO soon will co-host an Electric Vehicle Charging Corridor Roundtable and wanted to have an EV available for the participants to look over and maybe take for a spin. While trying to secure a lease vehicle, time was quickly running out with the scheduled EV event fast approaching. Through the generosity of Nissan-USA, SWEPCO is being loaned a 2019 Nissan Leaf Plus for a couple of weeks, which will be long enough for us to get past the event. The one catch was the chosen loaner vehicle was sitting in Metairie, LA, some 320 miles from Shreveport.

Being the adventurous type, and finding myself without a lot of adventure lately, I volunteered to be the guinea pig from our group, I mean, the driver for this little excursion. The Leaf Plus is advertised as having a range of up to 226 miles. As I read into this estimate a little further, I found out this number assumes the majority of miles are driven at relatively slow speeds in and around town. This does not exactly match up with what my trip from Metairie to Shreveport will be like. This route is mostly interstate with speed limits of 70 and 75 mph.

Earlier I stated I was of the adventurous type, but I should also say I tend to lean a little toward the side of caution. In my younger days, I had a commercial pilot’s license. Flying requires a lot of preplanning to stay out of trouble. I can see how this trip is going to revive some of the thought processes used in aviation trip planning.

In the internal combustion engine travel world we live in today, we rarely put much thought into the trip itself. We know where we are going, but few other details about the route. We may check the tires and even change the oil before a cross-country trip, but I doubt many of us put any real thought into where we will refuel. There’s even less concern that wherever we are going, fuel might not be readily available or at least a quick refuel stop might not be available.

We just set the GPS and drive until the tank is about dry and we stop for fuel. No thought needed because fuel is always just a short distance ahead of us. Having readily available fueling stations everywhere you look is the primary factor that allows our nation to be so mobile. We make a quick stop for fuel and a break, and we are off down the road again.

Not all trips in an EV are cross-country or cross-state travel. Most EV models can easily serve the role of city commuter and errand-running machine, but at this time, they are not ideal for driving long distances. A true road trip is going to require a little more thought. At least that’s how I see it. Remember, I am an EV newbie and am learning with every step, or push of the pedal.

Since I feel confident that highway speeds will consume energy faster than slow city driving, the true range of the car could be considerably less than the published 226 miles. With no real desire to spend time sitting on the side of the road with a dead battery, waiting for rescue, I am taking a conservative approach and will begin the trip assuming the Leaf Plus will have a true range at highway speeds of about 150 miles. I hope I am underestimating this little car, but I will need to be convinced first.

My trip will begin with me picking up a rental car and driving to Metairie from Shreveport. My plan is to arrive at Premiere Nissan in Metairie around noon on Monday, July 8, 2019. Once I take possession of the Leaf, assuming it will be 100% charged, I intend to drive to the Electrify America charging station at the Walmart in Breaux Bridge, which is 117 miles from Metairie. This is a Level 3 charger, which the Leaf is equipped to plug into. This leg will be on I-10 and I plan to drive the Leaf at 70 mph and closely observe how the battery holds up. If my calculations are correct, I should arrive at this first stop with a little more than 20% of battery life remaining. I expect the charge time at Breaux Bridge to be about an hour.

The second leg of my trip will be up I-49 to Alexandria, LA, to the charging station in the parking lot of the Fairfield Inn. As the only available charging stations in Alexandria are the J1772 Level 2 stations, with assumed charging speeds of 20-25 mph, I will need to be here several hours to get enough charge to get on to Shreveport. I think it could take on a full charge in 4 to 5 hours, but I just do not know yet. Since my day will have started early, I have planned to spend the night and get a full battery charge. I’ll leave for Shreveport first thing Tuesday morning.

The final leg on into Shreveport is about 129 miles. I hope that I can make that jump without issue.

This story originally appeared 7/19/2019 on SWEPCO Now.

Editor’s Note: In this three-part series, read Jeff Thigpen’s thoughts on driving the fully electric Nissan Leaf before, during and after his road trip across Louisiana. 

SWEPCO Energy Efficiency & Consumer Program Coordinator Jeff Thigpen at the Level 3 Charging Station in Breaux Bridge.

Monday, July 8, 2019

Last night, I picked up the rental car and left this morning at 6:15 in route to Metairie, Louisiana. I dropped the rental car off at Enterprise and they were nice enough to give me a ride to Premiere Nissan, a short distance down the road. The manager at the dealership handed over the keys and a salesperson gave me a quick overview of the car, we shook hands and I was on my own. As promised, the car was at 100% charge.

My first impressions of the Nissan Leaf were that this is a nice looking car, both inside and out. This particular model is the Leaf Plus SL version. It has just about everything you can get on any well-equipped car, including a heated steering wheel and heated seats. I was immediately impressed with the interior. I am 6’3”, 195 lbs. and felt comfortable the entire trip.

I opened the door and sat down. It was a HOT day in south Louisiana. Before I began to drive, I engaged the ‘Eco’ button. I had no desire to waste any energy on this first leg. I considered turning off the A/C, but it was 98 degrees with about 90% humidity. The cool air was winning out over my range anxiety, at least for now, so the A/C was staying on and I must say it worked quite well.

A look at the interior of the 2019 Nissan Leaf Plus.

Range anxiety, at least for me, was a very real thing. My research before the trip only mentioned range in broad terms and I never found what I was looking for. I wanted a metric that helped me understand what to expect for range with my immediate driving style, i.e. 70 mph with the A/C running, as one example.

I came up with a simple metric of miles traveled per battery percentage drop. In my mind, I wanted to have a feel for the energy consumed at a given speed. To get this number, I felt I could simply divide the miles driven by the percentage points reduced driving those miles. Example: For a 10% reduction in remaining battery life with 21 miles driven, I would have an ‘mppd’ (miles per percentage drop) of 2.1.

With this information, if I have 100% battery life remaining I should have a range of 210 miles at this speed, or with 30% battery life remaining, then I should be able to travel 63 miles at this speed, assuming all other conditions remain the same. This metric seemed straight forward enough to me, so I adopted this as a check and balance against the range the vehicle displayed.

The drive from Metairie to Breaux Bridge started with me going about a mile from the dealership and stopping for a quick lunch. Back in the car with my foot on the brake, I press the ‘Start’ button and all I hear is the A/C. I turned the A/C off and rolled down the front windows to experience how there really is nothing to hear. That was interesting, but I quickly rolled up the windows again and turned the A/C back on. Did I mention it is HOT? Within 2 minutes, I am on I-10 headed west toward Baton Rouge in heavy, but fast-moving traffic.

My nerves are high, but even with the drive mode set to ‘Eco’, which reduces the acceleration rate, the Leaf responded when I asked and easily jumped into the flow of traffic, never missing a beat. I nervously watched as the battery percentage level began to drop. Nothing dramatic or too worrisome, but a continual reminder that I need a charging station in mind as a destination, even if it is well down the road.

The leg went very well. I was showing an mppd as high as 2.22 (in a construction zone going about 40-45 mph) to a low of 1.06 at speeds of 75 mph. This low number seems to be an outlier though and may not be correct. For the most part, I was seeing around 1.9 miles for each percentage of battery drop, which is 190 miles of range on the highway. Pretty good but not the posted 226. My overall first driving experience in this EV was very positive. I now felt much better about the entire trip.

After driving 117 miles and arriving at the Electrify America charging station in the Walmart parking lot, I am pleasantly surprised to see the charging stations are vacant. At this location, there is one CHAdeMO ‘pump’ and five CCS/SAE ‘pumps’. I’m not sure what the actual charger is called, but it does somewhat resemble a gas pump, so I’ll use that term. The two hook-up types differ only in the plug/connect end of the charging cable.

The Nissan Leaf can accept a charge using either a J1772 Type 2 charger or a CHAdeMO Type 3 charger. It can also take a charge from a standard residential wall outlet, using the Nissan-provided adapter, but Level 1 charging is very slow, as in 24 to 36 hours to get a full charge. Level 2 chargers can normally provide a full charge in around 8 hours and the Level 3 chargers can usually charge to full capacity in less than an hour. These numbers will vary by EV make and model.

The Nissan Leaf has two charging ports, one for a J1772 Type 2 charger and another one for a CHAdeMO Type 3 charger.

I am happy to report that my initial assumption of 150 miles of highway range and that I would have about 20% charge remaining were both very low. I arrive at Breaux Bridge with 46% remaining and the Level 3 station charged the Leaf to 97% in 50 minutes. The charging speed is fastest when the battery charge is low. The charging speed drops off quickly when you get up around 80% to 90% charge when it begins to move at a crawl. I could have left earlier, but again I am being a little cautious and wanted a near full ‘tank’ before starting my second leg.

The 50 minutes passed quickly and I then headed for Alexandria. As I was leaving the parking lot, a man walking stepped out in front of me in the Leaf. A truck had just passed him and not hearing another vehicle, he assumed it was clear to walk. When he finally looked, I was close enough to startle him. I could see in the expression on his face he never heard the EV approach. These cars are very quiet!

A few miles from Breaux Bridge, I exited I-10 for I-49 and headed north. The drive to Alexandria was uneventful but for some reason, the range I was seeing was not as good. I drove part of this leg at 70 mph and part at 75 mph (not exceeding the speed limit), always with the A/C on. On this leg, however, I was seeing an ‘mppd’ from 1.57 to 1.74, meaning my highway range — at this speed and these conditions — was to be between 150-175 miles. I am not sure, but I think I might have had more headwind. Many factors can affect the range; including wind; how loaded the car is; extremely high or low temperatures. Even rain can have an effect.

I arrived at the Fairfield Inn in Alexandria around 5:30 pm to find the two J1772 Level 2 charging ‘pumps’ unoccupied and in perfect working order. I feel blessed that I have been able to charge without incident. I would have had to scramble and change plans if the stations were not operational.

I let the Leaf charge all night. I checked on it around 10pm and had charged from 49% to about 95% in around 4.5 hours. I think it would have been 100% charged in less than another hour or so, but I went on to bed and found it at 100% the next morning. I left for Shreveport around 7 a.m. and the miles per percentage drop for this leg ranged from 1.7 to 1.9, allowing from 170 to 190 highway miles of range.

As I drove along, I could not miss the irony of me cruising along the interstate in a very modern, all-electric vehicle while listening to Patsy Cline coming through the speakers. I like old country. It struck me that this trip, even though it seems foreign to me, would soon be a very common experience for many. If we as an electric utility are ready for this reality or not, it is coming quickly.

The major issue needing attention is the lack of Level 3 charging stations. Until these quick-charge stations are readily available along all major travel routes, it will remain a difficult hurdle that most travelers will not be willing to approach. In my opinion, a 30-minute charging session is completely acceptable and reasonable. A charging session of 4 to 6 hours, however, is not acceptable for most people’s schedules during a cross-country trip, unless that stop can be overnight.

This is a great car, it just happens to be a total electric vehicle requiring a little more planning if you intend to travel cross country. Cross country in this electric vehicle is very achievable, it just requires a little more thought and planning.

For in-town transportation, the Nissan Leaf would more than meet the needs and expectations for the vast majority of us. If the electric vehicle owner has access either at home or at work to a Level 2 charger and does not typically go more than 100 miles a day, this car is a near-perfect solution to fill the need.

I had fun and a little adventure to boot. At least for an old guy that likes this sort of thing.

This story originally appeared 7/26/2019 on SWEPCO Now.