Nicholas Akins
President and CEO, American Electric Power
We provide a basic necessity of life. Almost everything you want to do requires some form of energy, mostly electricity. We need to be mindful of the changes we make as a society to disrupt that basic reality. That’s why we need a regulatory approach that’s sound, reasonable and consistent.
Biography
Nick Akins is president and chief executive officer of American Electric Power and a member of AEP’s board of directors. Akins began his nearly 30-year tenure with the company in 1982 as an electrical engineer at Central and South West Corp. (CSW), which merged with AEP in 2000. Prior to being elected president of AEP in December 2010, he served as executive vice president - Generation from 2006-2010, responsible for all of AEP’s approximately 38,000 MW of generation resources.
Akins has also served as president and chief operating officer for Southwestern Electric Power Company, as vice president – Energy Marketing Services, and as vice president – Industry Restructuring for AEP. He is chairman of the Board of the Electric Power Research Institute, and a member of the boards of the National Association of Manufacturers, the Mid-Ohio Food Bank, the Greater Columbus Arts Council and the Wexner Center for the Arts. He also serves on several AEP subsidiary boards.
A Louisiana native and holder of bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Louisiana Tech University in 1982 and 1986, he resides in Dublin, Ohio.