By Suzanne Herel

The Public Utility Commission of Ohio should rule by the end of the year on power purchase agreements that would guarantee income to some of American Electric Power’s coal plants, CEO Nicholas Akins said in the company’s third-quarter earnings call.

The decision, Akins said, will have an impact on whether AEP decides to sell some of its merchant fleet. “The PPA is very, very important to our standing in Ohio overall, and whether we keep that portion of the generation or not.”

AEP reported operating earnings for the quarter of $521 million ($1.06/share), compared with $493 million ($1.01/share) for the same period in 2014. The “strong earnings performance” gave the company confidence to increase its 2015 earnings-per-share forecast to $3.67 to $3.77/share from $3.50 to $3.65/share, Akins said.

“We saw positive load growth in all major retail customer classes in the third quarter. While sales to the oil and gas sector and those related to the auto industry remain strong, other industrial sectors are under pressure due to the strong dollar and the weak global economy,” the CEO said.

AEP’s vertically integrated utilities reported the biggest jump in third-quarter operating earnings — $55 million compared with the same period in 2014 — reflecting the impact of favorable weather and rate outcomes, the company said.