COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 30, 2007 – American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) has been named the most “adoption-friendly workplace” in the energy and utilities sector for 2007 by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

The company also ranked sixth on the list of adoption-friendly employers in Ohio.

AEP reimburses employees up to $3,000 per child for eligible adoption-related expenses and provides up to 40 hours of paid leave for new adoptive parents.

“We’re pleased to be recognized for our efforts to help make AEP a family-friendly workplace,” said Mary Cofer, AEP’s director of diversity and culture. “The adoption process can involve numerous expenses, such as agency and placement fees, legal fees, court fees, and even travel or local customs expenses related to international adoption. We’re gratified to help defray these costs for our employees who adopt children.”

Approximately 40 employees have benefited from AEP’s Adoption Assistance program during the past two years.

The Dave Thomas Foundation collected data from more than 750 employers nationwide in compiling its annual rankings of adoption-friendly workplaces. The rankings are based on the maximum amount of financial reimbursement and paid leave per adoption.

Rounding out the list of the top five energy/utility companies recognized by the foundation are Cleco Corp., PJM Interconnection, the Salt River Project and Peabody Energy.

Selected as the five most adoption-friendly employers based in Ohio were Wendy’s International, E.W. Scripps Co., Standard Register, The Ohio State University and OhioHealth.

AEP over the past few years also has been recognized as a top employer for people with military experience, working mothers, women of color and female executives.

The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is a non-profit, public charity dedicated to dramatically increasing adoptions of the more than 140,000 children in North America’s foster care systems. Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy’s Restaurants and an adopted child himself, created the foundation in 1992.

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 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. AEP’s transmission system directly or indirectly serves about 10 percent of the electricity demand in the Eastern Interconnection, the interconnected transmission system that covers 38 eastern and central U.S. states and eastern Canada, and approximately 11 percent of the electricity demand in ERCOT, the transmission system that covers much of Texas. 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). AEP’s headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio.