| American Electric Power has bought 27,000 acres of coal reserves in West Virginia.
AEP is expected to develop the reserves, contracting for mining, to feed the John Amos power plant in Putnam County and possibly other generators.
AEP is proposing two giant high-voltage lines across the state, mostly to meet the energy needs of the northeast grid.
A spokeswoman for Columbus, Ohio-based AEP says the property in Putnam, Mason and Jackson counties could supply several nearby generating plants.
The reserves were acquired from St. Louis-based Peabody Energy for $2.5 million last January.
AEP, which burns 76 million tons of coal a year, got out of mining in the late 1990s, contracting the mining operations.
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