(Bloomberg) -- American Electric Power Co. tapped Trevor Mihalik, the former chief financial officer of Sempra, for the same role as one of the largest US utilities faces power demand growth and looks to improve relations with regulators.
Power consumption is projected to soar in coming years due to data centers, new factories and the electrification of cars and home heating. Utilities are racing to meet that demand by building new power sources and transmission lines, projects whose costs typically get passed on to consumers.
The demand increase is a big opportunity but grid improvements that don’t benefit customers can anger regulators and raise bills, Mihalik said in an interview.
“There’s no shortage of projects to build out in the US,” Mihalik said, referring to the demand spike. “It’s a great problem to have, but you have to manage it carefully.” His appointment is effective January 20. Shares were little changed Tuesday morning in New York.
AEP has had a difficult time with regulators, including rejections of both a $1.5 billion sale of Kentucky operations and plans to spend $2.2 billion on green-energy assets in Texas. New Chief Executive Officer Bill Fehrman has said he’ll improve those relationships by listening to and taking the lead from regulators. The utility serves about 5.6 million customers in 11 states.
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