Charles Patton is executive vice president – External Affairs for AEP. He leads AEP’s customer services, communications, federal public policy and corporate sustainability initiatives.

Patton previously was president and chief operating officer of Appalachian Power, an operating utility of AEP serving approximately 1 million customers in West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee.

In previous roles, Patton served AEP as executive vice president – AEP Utilities West and senior vice president – Regulatory and Public Policy. Prior to these roles, a significant amount of Patton’s career was in Texas where he served as president and chief operating officer of AEP Texas as well as in other executive positions. During his tenure in Texas, Patton was appointed by former Texas Gov. George Bush to serve on the Texas Energy Coordination Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. Later, Gov. Rick Perry appointed Patton to the Texas Energy Planning Council, which was established to advise the governor on energy matters.

Most recently, Patton was appointed by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe to the governor’s Environmental Sustainability Committee and by West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin to chair the governor’s Committee on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).

Patton was appointed to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s board of directors for a three-year term beginning in 2014. He also serves on the board of Sterling Construction, a large public engineering and construction company located in Houston.

Patton has served and chaired numerous professional and civic organizations in the communities in which he has lived. Most recently, he served on the boards of the University of Charleston, the West Virginia Education Alliance and the West Virginia Regional Technology Park. At AEP, he is an executive sponsor of the African-American Employee Resource Group (AAERG). Patton resides in Columbus, Ohio.

He is an undergraduate of Bowdoin College, located in Brunswick, Maine, and holds a graduate degree from The University of Texas LBJ School of Public Policy.