Appalachian Power Co. has permission to begin recovering higher coal prices from customers before the State Corporation Commission hears the request, the agency announced Tuesday.

American Electric Power Co. said Tuesday it has named John F. Turner, a former State Department official, a director, boosting its board to 12 members.

Texas extended its already formidable national lead in wind power by clearing the way Thursday for a major expansion of the state's electrical power transmission network, valued at nearly $5 billion, a move that will triple its current wind power capacity.

Reynolds American Inc., the parent company of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., said Tuesday one of its board members, Antonio Monteiro de Castro, has resigned, and it has elected two new board members.

OGE Energy Corp.'s Oklahoma Gas and Electric said Tuesday it will work with a joint-venture of American Electric Power Company Inc. and MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. to build a 765-kilovolt transmission system in western Oklahoma.

Rising yields on U.S. government bonds along with higher crude oil prices dragged utility company stocks lower Friday, along with a broader stock market that is well into bear market territory.

Shares of utility companies opened lower Friday as investors focused on troubles at mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and watched oil prices climb further into record territory.

A vast reorganization of the global coal trade  is making the United States a major exporter for the first time in years — and helping to drive up domestic prices of the one fossil fuel the nation has in abundance.