COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 30, 2007 – American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) is the first electric utility to commit to participation as a corporate champion in the Green Suppliers Network (GSN) program, which seeks to help small and medium-sized manufacturers become more competitive while reducing their impact on the environment.

GSN is a joint effort of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership within the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Thirty companies currently participate in GSN as either suppliers or corporate champions. Through its pledge to be a corporate champion, AEP commits to:

• Engage five of its suppliers to complete the GSN technical review process within a year, aimed at identifying cost-effective process improvements and waste-elimination strategies for each supplier;
• Explore ways to recognize and reward suppliers who have completed GSN reviews and implemented appropriate recommendations; and
• Provide resources to the suppliers, as appropriate and available, to implement these recommendations.

“Engaging our suppliers in the Green Suppliers Network will help them improve their productivity, efficiency and environmental performance,” said Susan Tomasky, executive vice president – Shared Services for AEP. “Suppliers are significant stakeholders in the company, and helping them enhance their sustainability also helps us to achieve our environmental and sustainability goals.”

Companies can reap significant savings by implementing the recommendations, Tomasky said. A total of 49 technical reviews completed through the GSN program to date have identified potential annual savings of nearly $27 million.

More information about GSN is available at www.greensuppliers.gov.

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 more than 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.