AEP will soon construct the ELK Transmission Line, which will be a new 138-kilovolt power line in Vinton and Jackson counties in Ohio. The line is needed to maintain reliable electric service to AEP’s customers in the region. The new line is designed to prevent overloads of critical facilities and provide sufficient capacity for future growth and development in the area, where the load is projected to increase more than 1.5 percent each year for the next 10 years. As of July 2013, AEP was in the process of acquiring the necessary right-of-way easements for the project.