AEP OHIO EXPANDS ENERGY CHECK TOOLKIT LIBRARY LENDING PROGRAM

GAHANNA, Ohio, Sept. 7, 2011 - - AEP Ohio, a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) is expanding its Energy Check Toolkit Library Lending Program throughout the company’s Ohio service territory.  Introduced in March as the Kill-A-Watt ^TM Meter Program at the Licking County Public Library and later at libraries in Tuscarawas, Athens and Perry counties, the program has proven to be quite successful.   

            The program provides an opportunity for library patrons to sign out an Energy Check Toolkit for a week at a time.  Included in the toolkit is a small Kill-A-Watt meter that simply plugs into a wall outlet and any household electrical device can then be plugged into it in order to monitor the amount of energy the device is using.  The energy consumption results are then clearly displayed on a screen.

“The Energy Check Toolkit comes with meter instructions, details about our energy efficiency and peak demand response programs, plus an “energy-use checklist” designed to help calculate energy costs associated with household electrical appliances,” said Jon Williams, AEP Ohio manager of energy efficiency and peak demand response.  Anyone who checks out a toolkit also receives information regarding energy consumed by appliances or equipment switched to the off position and not in use but still plugged into an electrical outlet, otherwise know as “phantom load,” and how they can eliminate it in their homes. A brief survey intended to provide AEP Ohio feedback on the library lending program, as well as the company’s other energy efficiency consumer programs, is also included.

            “Like books, Kill-A-Watt meters dispense something of value to our patrons, and that something is information,” said Kent Daniels, head of adult services for the Licking County Public Library.  “We have received very positive responses from patrons who have checked out the toolkits.  Individuals get them home, begin testing their appliances and quickly realize just how much electricity they use.  Having a Kill-A-Watt meter on hand definitely makes one more aware of energy consumption.”

            “We are happy to extend the program to libraries in our Ohio service area,” noted Williams.  Visit gridsmartOhio.com for additional details about the Energy Check Toolkit Library Lending Program and how your library can join other Ohio libraries already participating in the program. 

The library lending program is part of the gridSMART^® from AEP Ohio portfolio of energy efficiency programs available to help customers make their homes more comfortable, use less electricity, reduce energy costs and preserve  the environment and natural resources.

            Investor-owned utilities in Ohio are required to meet specific energy reduction targets. The Energy Check Toolkit Library Lending Program is part of AEP Ohio’s overall energy efficiency and peak demand response efforts to meet the State of Ohio target of reducing electricity consumption 22 percent by the end of 2025.  For more information about AEP Ohio’s energy efficiency consumer programs, events and tips, go to gridSMARTOhio.com.

            AEP Ohio provides electricity to nearly 1.5 million customers of major AEP subsidiaries Columbus Southern Power Company and Ohio Power Company in Ohio, and Wheeling Power Company in the northern panhandle of West Virginia. AEP Ohio is based in Gahanna, Ohio, and is a unit of American Electric Power.

            American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation’s largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEP’s transmission system directly or indirectly serves about 10 percent of the electricity demand in the Eastern Interconnection, the interconnected transmission system that covers 38 eastern and central U.S. states and eastern Canada, and approximately 11 percent of the electricity demand in ERCOT, the transmission system that covers much of Texas. AEP’s utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east and north Texas). AEP’s headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio. News releases and other information about AEP can be found at aep.com.