Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 10, 1992 TAG: 9201100119
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY BUSINESS EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
NUCLEAR ENGINEER TO HEAD AEP
American Electric Power Co. has hired a nuclear engineer and past president of the American Nuclear Society as its new president, signaling its interest in developing nuclear plants.The naming this week of E. Linn Draper Jr. came with strong indication that Joseph Vipperman, president of the company's Roanoke-based Appalachian Power Co. unit, has been considered for the job.
Draper was selected over Vipperman and William J. Lhota, an executive vice president of American Electric Power Service Corp., according to reports in the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch. AEP is based in Columbus.
Richard Disbrow, who this month became AEP chairman when he moved up from president, told the Dispatch: "These two quality guys [Vipperman and Lhota] were given every consideration. I wouldn't be embarrassed if either became president."
The two men, both in their early 50s, indeed may still be in line for Vipperman the job.
Disbrow is scheduled to retire in October 1995 and has described himself as a transitional chairman. Draper's appointment as president apparently gives him a leg up to succeed Disbrow as chairman.
But the selection of Draper did not shut the door on either Vipperman or Lhota, Disbrow told the Columbus newspaper. "All kinds of things could happen," Disbrow said.
Draper's election to the utility company's No. 2 post indicates AEP's interest in expanding its nuclear operations.
AEP generates about 9 percent of its electricity at a nuclear plant in Michigan and gets nearly 90 percent from coal-fired plants. Company officials have predicted that nuclear power will increase after 2000.
Draper is chairman and president of Gulf States Utilities Co. in Beaumont, Texas, a utility that relies heavily on a nuclear plant.
Draper will become president and a director of Apco's parent on March 1. He was chosen at a special board meeting Monday.
Disbrow said Draper is "a proven executive who has led Gulf States out of a troubled period with solid results." Gulf States' problems in proceeding with a $4.2-billion nuclear plant in Louisiana, completed in 1986, and rate increase troubles pushed the utility to the brink of bankruptcy, the Dispatch said.
Draper, 49, joined Gulf States as technical assistant to the chief executive officer in 1979 and became president in 1987. He taught nuclear engineering at the University of Texas for 10 years.
Gulf States, smaller than Apco in customer base, has more than 570,000 customers and revenues of $1.7 billion in parts of Texas and Louisiana.
Draper also is a past director of the Edison Electric Institute, an industry trade organization. He holds a doctorate in nuclear engineering from Cornell University and is a graduate of Rice University.