Charleston, W.Va., March 3, 2009 – Recent winter storms damaged two key electric transmission lines serving Appalachian Power customers in Virginia and southern West Virginia and Kentucky Power customers in eastern Kentucky. The loss of these facilities combined with extremely cold temperatures expected in the area in the morning could create a widespread electric problem, especially between 6 and 9 a.m. when electric demands are typically at their highest.

All Appalachian Power customers south of and including Beckley, W.Va., Lynchburg, Va., and Kentucky Power customers in and south of Hazard, Ky., are urged to conserve electricity.  Conserving electricity during these hours could avert the necessity to involuntarily interrupt electric service. During the critical hours, the company is asking customers to reduce their electric consumption by postponing using appliances such as clothes dryers, dishwashers and electric ranges, and to turn down their thermostats on electric heating equipment. 
           
Appalachian Power provides electricity to 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, with 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.
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