COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 26, 2006 – Columbus Southern Power Company and Ohio Power Company, subsidiaries of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) and collectively AEP Ohio, said today it is reviewing the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio’s (PUCO) ruling to invest $10 million to improve system reliability.

“AEP Ohio has made and will continue making system reliability improvements,” said AEP Ohio President and Chief Operating Officer Kevin E. Walker. “It’s important to our customers and important to our company.”

In its January 2006 final report, AEP Ohio indicated it substantially met the terms and expectations of the 2003 stipulation agreement between the company and PUCO. 

According to Walker, AEP Ohio exceeded targets for the lowest-performing quartile of circuits, expended an additional $60.5 million to aggressively achieve the reliability performance improvements established in the stipulation, and achieved a progressive reduction in customer outage complaints during the stipulation period.

“These successes are the direct result of the ingenuity and dedication of AEP Ohio employees,” said Walker.  “We share the Commission’s commitment to improving reliability and we are continually seeking opportunities to better align system performance with customer expectations.” 

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 36,000 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 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 Texas). American Electric Power, based in Columbus, Ohio, is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2006.