Columbus, Ohio, and Dallas, Feb. 9, 2000 -- Senior management positions have been named as American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) and Central and South West Corporation (NYSE: CSR) continue to build the company to be created upon completion of their pending merger, expected in the spring. "The decisions we are making now are critical to the future success of our company," said E. Linn Draper Jr., chairman, president and chief executive officer of AEP. Draper will retain his titles when the merger is completed. "AEP and CSW are fortunate to have very talented, experienced people," Draper said. "While this leads to some very difficult staffing decisions, we are confident that we are building a strong organization." Executive management team members who head the business units were named yesterday. All appointments will be effective upon completion of the merger. Executives from each company will continue with their current responsibilities until that time. AEP and CSW announced their intention to merge on Dec. 22, 1997. Approvals that remain include the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Upon completion of the merger, the new company will be called American Electric Power. Senior staffing positions by business unit, with current company affiliation in parenthesis, include: Corporate Development Donald M. Clements Jr., who will be executive vice president - Corporate Development and president of AEP Resources Inc. upon completion of the merger, has named the following people to his senior staff: -- Thomas Jobes (AEP), vice president, Corporate Development, Mergers and Acquisitions; -- Peter Thomas (AEP), vice president, AEP Communications Inc. Finance and Analysis Henry Fayne, who will be executive vice president - Finance and Analysis and Chief Financial Officer upon completion of the merger, has named the following people to his senior staff: -- Rich Munczinski (AEP), senior vice president - Corporate Planning and Budgeting; -- Armando Pena (AEP), senior vice president - Finance and treasurer; -- Wendy Hargus (CSW), vice president and assistant treasurer; -- Geoff Chatas (AEP), vice president and assistant treasurer; -- Rich Mueller (AEP), vice president, Internal Audits. Munczinski, Pena and Mueller will report to Fayne. Hargus and Chatas will report to Pena. Legal, Policy and Corporate Communications Susan Tomasky, who will be executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary upon completion of the merger, has named the following people to her senior staff: -- Jeff Cross (AEP), vice president and deputy general counsel, Legal; -- Craig Baker (AEP), senior vice president, Public Policy; -- Thomas Hagan (CSW), senior vice president, Governmental Affairs; -- Nicholas Ashooh (AEP), senior vice president, Corporate Communications; -- Dale Heydlauff (AEP), vice president, Environmental Policy. State presidents reporting to Hagan are: -- Mike Madison (CSW), state president, Arkansas/Louisiana; -- T.D. Churchwell (CSW), state president, Oklahoma; -- Stuart Solomon (AEP), state president, West Virginia; -- Dan Carson (AEP), state president, Virginia/Tennessee; -- Alphonso Jackson (CSW), state president, Texas; -- Tim Mosher (AEP), state president, Kentucky; -- John Sampson (AEP), state president, Indiana. State presidents for Ohio and Michigan will be named later. North American Energy Delivery William J. Lhota, who will be president - North American Energy Delivery and executive vice president of AEP Service Corp. upon completion of the merger, has named the following people to his senior staff: -- David Crabtree (AEP), senior vice president, Customer/Community Services; -- Glenn Files (CSW), senior vice president, Distribution; -- David Mustine (AEP), senior vice president, Regulatory, Planning, Budgeting; -- Marsha Ryan (AEP), senior vice president, Customer Interfaces; -- Richard Verret (CSW), senior vice president, Transmission; -- Coulter R. Boyle (AEP), vice president, Regulatory Services (Columbus, Ohio); -- Mark Roberson (CSW), vice president, Regulatory Services (Austin, Texas). Boyle and Roberson will report to Mustine. Shared Services Joseph H. Vipperman, who will be executive vice president - Shared Services upon completion of the merger, has named the following people to his senior staff: -- Michael Moore (AEP), senior vice president - Information Technology and chief information officer; -- Rod Plimpton (AEP), senior vice president, Human Resources; -- Butch Rhodes (AEP), vice president, Supply Chain; -- Joseph Hamrock (AEP), vice president, General Services. Wholesale Paul D. Addis, who will be executive vice president of AEP Service Corp. and president - Wholesale/Energy Services upon completion of the merger, has named the following people to his senior staff: -- Eric van der Walde (AEP), senior vice president, AEP Service Corp. - Energy Trading & Marketing; -- John Norris (AEP), senior vice president, AEP Service Corporation - Operations & Technical Services; -- Steven Appelt (AEP), senior vice president, Administration; -- George Rooney (AEP), vice president, Marketing & Business Origination; -- Terry Dennis (CSW), president, AEP Global Wholesale Development; -- Bruce Braine (AEP), senior vice president, Analysis; -- Hank Jones (AEP), senior vice president and managing director, European Trading & Wholesale Development; -- Mark Stewart (AEP), senior vice president, Energy Services; -- David Banks (AEP), vice president, Business Systems & Operations; -- Doug Penrod (AEP), vice president, Business Development; -- Steve Lewis (AEP), senior vice president, Gas & Coal Trading; -- Michael Williams (CSW), vice president, Fossil/Hydro Operations; -- John Jones (AEP), president, AEP Technical Services Company. All will report to Addis except Williams and John Jones, who will report to Norris, and Lewis, who will report to van der Walde. Central and South West Corp. is a global, diversified public utility holding company based in Dallas. CSW owns four electric operating subsidiaries serving 1.7 million customers in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas; a regional electricity company in the United Kingdom; other international energy operations and non-utility subsidiaries involved in energy-related investments, telecommunications, energy efficiency and financial transactions. AEP, a global energy company, is one of the United States’ largest investor-owned utilities, providing energy to 3 million customers in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. AEP has holdings in the United States, the United Kingdom, China and Australia. Wholly owned subsidiaries provide power engineering, energy consulting and energy management services around the world. The company is based in Columbus, Ohio. News releases and other information about CSW can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.csw.com.