Charleston, W.Va., August 8, 2007 – Appalachian Power customers and AEP Appalachian Power customers in Kingsport, Tenn., set a new unofficial summer peak demand for electricity Tuesday.

At the hour ending 3 p.m. eastern standard time Appalachian Power customers’ demand for electricity topped 6,455 megawatts (MW), up from the prior summer peak of 6,395 MW established August 2, 2006.   Appalachian Power set an all-time peak demand of 8,132 MW February 6, 2007. A megawatt is a measurement of electricity demand equal to one million watts.

“Establishing a new all-time peak and a new summer peak within eight months of eachother help illustrate our customers’ growing demand for electricity,” said Dana Waldo, Appalachian Power president and COO. “Timely approval of new facilities is critical to keeping pace with this growing demand and fulfilling our commitment to provide customers with reliable electricity.”

Appalachian Power has about 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is a unit of American Electric Power, one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, which delivers 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. 
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