COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 22, 2003 - A story in today´s Wall Street Journal about Ohio distribution maintenance practices by American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) is based on preliminary, internal working documents from a Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) staff review that had yet to be verified and agreed to by AEP. The document is not based on a PUCO sanctioned report or commission action.

Distribution maintenance activities are completely separate from the reliability of the company´s transmission grid. There have been no claims by regulators or government officials about the performance of AEP´s transmission system or actions by the automated protective transmission control systems related to the Aug. 14 blackouts that affected other transmission systems in eight states and eastern Canada.

"AEP recognizes the reliability concerns in some local areas of the company´s distribution system, and we have been working with the PUCO to make improvements," said Henry Fayne, AEP executive vice president - energy delivery.

AEP also has been meeting with the PUCO staff to discuss maintenance spending levels and related issues. While AEP´s rates in Ohio have not increased since the mid-1990s, the company has increased spending on maintenance and operations. "Although we have been working hard to control costs through process improvements and reduced overheads, we have continued to increase maintenance spending on our distribution facilities and are committed to ongoing dialogue with the PUCO regarding customer service issues," Fayne said.

"The release of the PUCO staff´s preliminary report on AEP´s service quality was as a result of a public records request by the Wall Street Journal," said Christine M.T. Pirik, PUCO chief of staff. "It must be pointed out, as it was to the Wall Street Journal, that although AEP has not yet had the opportunity to respond to the report, AEP has been working cooperatively with PUCO staff to resolve the issues raised in the report and to improve reliability in these areas. Furthermore, the report was compiled well before the events of last week. More specifically, it is directed toward the rural distribution system and not the transmission facilities of AEP."