American Electric Power (AEP) Risk Analysis

Business activities of electric utilities and related companies are heavily regulated, primarily through national and state laws and regulations of general applicability, including laws and regulations related to working conditions, health and safety, equal employment opportunity, employee benefit and other labor and employment matters, laws and regulations related to competition and antitrust matters. Many agencies employ mandatory civil penalty structures for regulatory violations. Registrants are subject to the jurisdiction of many federal and state agencies, including the FERC, NERC, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Federal EPA, NRC, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the SEC and the United States Department of Justice which may impose significant civil and criminal penalties to enforce compliance requirements relative to AEP's business, which could have a material adverse impact on results of operations and cash flows and impact financial condition. The impact of new laws, regulations and policies and the related interpretations, as well as changes in enforcement practices or regulatory scrutiny generally cannot be predicted, and changes in applicable laws, regulations and policies and the related interpretations and enforcement practices may require extensive system and operational changes, be difficult to implement, increase AEP's operating costs, require significant capital expenditures, or adversely impact the cost or attractiveness of the products or services AEP offers, or result in adverse publicity and harm AEP's reputation.

AEP is involved in legal proceedings, claims and litigation arising out of its business operations, the most significant of which are summarized in Note 6 - Commitments, Guarantees and Contingencies.  Management cannot predict the outcome of such legal proceedings. Adverse outcomes in these proceedings could require significant expenditures that could reduce future net income and cash flows and negatively impact financial condition.

AEP and several nonaffiliated utility companies own OVEC. The Inter-Company Power Agreement (ICPA) defines the rights and obligations and sets the power participation ratio of the parties to it. Under the ICPA, parties are entitled to receive and are obligated to pay for all OVEC capacity (approximately 2,400 MWs) in proportion to their respective power participation ratios. The aggregate power participation ratio of APCo, I&M and OPCo is 43.47%. If a party fails to make payments owed by it under the ICPA, OVEC may not have sufficient funds to honor its payment obligations, including its ongoing operating expenses as well as its indebtedness. As of December 31, 2025, OVEC has outstanding indebtedness of approximately $873 million, of which APCo, I&M and OPCo are collectively responsible for $379 million through the ICPA. Although they are not an obligor or guarantor, APCo, I&M and OPCo are responsible for their respective ratio of OVEC's outstanding debt through the ICPA and if OVEC's indebtedness is accelerated for any reason, there is risk that APCo, I&M and/or OPCo may be required to pay some or all of such accelerated indebtedness in amounts equal to their aggregate power participation ratio of 43.47%.

AEP is experiencing current and projected load demands that exceed historical experience, creating a business need for new power generating resources and transmission facilities. Much of this demand is driven by interconnecting with and providing power to data centers and other large load customers to serve an increasingly digital economy and to support AI. The business and capital investment plans of AEP are focused on meeting these current and projected needs. If these increased demands for electricity do not occur as projected or are not sustained as projected, for any reason, it could affect AEP's financial condition.

Performance is highly dependent on the successful operation of generation, transmission and/or distribution facilities.  Operating these facilities involves many risks, including: - Operator error and breakdown or failure of equipment or processes. - Operating limitations that may be imposed by environmental or other regulatory requirements. - Labor disputes. - Compliance with mandatory reliability standards, including mandatory cybersecurity standards. - Information technology failure, including failure of AI technology, that impairs AEP's information technology infrastructure or disrupts normal business operations. - Information technology failure that affects AEP's ability to access customer information or causes loss of confidential or proprietary data that materially and adversely affects AEP's reputation or exposes AEP to legal claims. - Supply chain disruptions and inflation. - Fuel or water supply interruptions caused by transportation constraints, adverse weather such as drought, non-performance by suppliers and other factors. - Catastrophic events such as extreme weather, fires, earthquakes, explosions, hurricanes, tornadoes, winter storms, terrorism (including cyber-terrorism), floods or other similar occurrences. - Fuel costs and related requirements triggered by financial stress in the coal industry.

Climate change creates physical and financial risk.  Physical risks from climate change may include an increase in sea level and changes in weather conditions, such as changes in precipitation and extreme weather events, such as fires.  Customers' energy needs vary with weather conditions, primarily temperature and humidity.  For residential customers, heating and cooling represent their largest energy use.  To the extent weather conditions are affected by climate change, customers' energy use could increase or decrease depending on the duration and magnitude of the changes. Increased energy use due to weather changes may require AEP to invest in additional generating assets, transmission and other infrastructure to serve increased load.  Decreased energy use due to weather changes may affect financial condition through decreased revenues.  Extreme weather conditions in general require more system backup, adding to costs, and can contribute to increased system stress, including service interruptions.  Weather conditions outside of the AEP service territory could also have an impact on revenues.  AEP buys and sells electricity depending upon system needs and market opportunities.  Extreme weather conditions creating high energy demand on AEP's own and/or other systems may raise electricity prices as AEP buys short-term energy to serve AEP's own system, which would increase the cost of energy AEP provides to customers. Severe weather and weather-related events impact AEP's service territories, primarily when thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, fires, floods and snow or ice storms occur.  To the extent the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events and storms increase, AEP's cost of providing service will increase, including the costs and the availability of procuring insurance related to such impacts, and these costs may not be recoverable.  Changes in wind patterns or in precipitation resulting in droughts, water shortages or floods could adversely affect operations, principally wind generation facilities for changes in wind patterns and the fossil fuel generating units for changes in precipitation. A change in wind patterns or a negative impact to water supplies due to long-term drought conditions or severe flooding could adversely impact AEP's ability to provide electricity to customers, as well as increase the price they pay for energy.  AEP may not recover all costs related to mitigating these physical and financial risks. To the extent climate change impacts a region's economic health, it may also impact revenues.  AEP's financial performance is tied to the health of the regional economies AEP serves.  The price of energy, as a factor in a region's cost of living as well as an important input into the cost of goods and services, impacts the economic health of the communities within AEP's service territories. Climate change may impact the economy, which could impact sales and revenues. The cost of additional regulatory requirements, such as regulation of carbon dioxide emissions, could impact the availability of goods and prices charged by AEP's suppliers which would normally be borne by consumers through higher prices for energy and purchased goods. To the extent financial markets view climate change and carbon dioxide emissions as a financial risk, this could negatively affect AEP's ability to access capital markets or cause AEP to receive less than ideal terms and conditions in capital markets.

Executive actions have been taken and additional measures proposed that are intended to alter the U.S. approach to international trade policy, the terms of certain existing bilateral or multi-lateral trade agreements and trading arrangements with foreign countries. Such changes to U.S. international trade policy, and any retaliatory trade measures that foreign governments may take in response, including the imposition of tariffs, sanctions, export or import controls, or other measures that restrict international trade, or the threat of such actions, could result in additional increases in the cost of certain goods, services and cost of capital and exacerbate supply chain issues. In addition, related geopolitical and domestic political developments, such as existing and potential trade wars, uncertainty regarding changes in trade policy, and other events beyond AEP's control, have increased and may continue to increase levels of political and economic unpredictability globally and the volatility of global financial markets. As a result, prevailing economic conditions may reduce future net income and cash flows and negatively impact financial condition.