Columbus, Ohio and Dallas, Aug. 11, 1999 -- American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) and Central and South West Corporation (NYSE: CSR) today announced agreements with several wholesale customer groups in a case currently before the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) to consider the pending merger betweeen AEP and CSW. Hearings to consider the AEP/CSW merger application in Texas concluded Tuesday at the State Office of Administrative Hearings in Austin. The agreements must be approved by the governing bodies of each of the wholesale customers. The wholesale customers include South Texas Electric Cooperative (STEC) and its member distribution cooperatives, the City of Brownsville Public Utility Board, the East Texas Cooperatives, and a group of transmission dependent utilities (TDUs). The TDUs include Magic Valley Electric Cooperative, Inc., Mid-Tex Generation and Transmission Electric Cooperative, Inc. and its members and Rayburn Country Electric Cooperative. The East Texas Cooperatives include East Texas Electric Cooperative Inc., Northeast Texas Electric Cooperative, Inc., and Tex-La Electric Cooperative of Texas, Inc. The agreements with the CSW wholesale customers resolve certain issues raised in the merger proceeding, including coordination of transmission planning and coordination of system operations. The agreements also resolve issues among the signing parties in the merger application proceedings currently pending before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). CSW is the parent company to Central Power and Light Company (CPL), West Texas Utilities Company (WTU) and Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO). CSW’s electric operating companies serve a combined total of 988,300 customers in Texas. “These new settlements are yet another example of our efforts to discuss the many benefits of this merger with customers who are interested in finding ways to address their concerns,” said E. Linn Draper Jr., AEP’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. “These settlements are an important step toward gaining approval in Texas. “This merger will bring benefits to CSW’s Texas customers while providing value to our employees and shareholders,” Draper said. The hearings also addressed an Integrated Stipulation and Agreement that will result in combined rate reductions totaling $221 million over a six-year period for Texas retail customers of the three CSW Texas electric operating companies after the stipulation is approved and the merger is completed. The stipulation, which was announced in May, also calls for divestiture of 1,604 megawatts of generating capacity within Texas. AEP and CSW announced their intent to merge on Dec. 22, 1997. The merger has received conditional approval by state regulatory commissions in Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, three of the four states within CSW's service territory. The Oklahoma order confirmed an Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) staff settlement recommendation to the OCC to not oppose approval of the merger by the FERC. AEP and CSW reached a settlement with the FERC trial staff in which the staff supports a finding that the merger will have no adverse effect on competition. The FERC hearings concluded on July 19. On July 28, the FERC issued an order imposing a procedural schedule on the administrative law judge and other parties so the commission can act on the pending merger in February or March of next year. AEP and CSW have also announced settlement agreements with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) resulting in the IBEW and UWUA local unions withdrawing their opposition to completion of the merger; with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) resulting in Indiana customers receiving merger benefits and including a commitment by the IURC to not oppose the merger during consideration of the merger agreement by the FERC and the SEC; with key parties in Kentucky that has been approved by the Kentucky Public Service Commission; with the Missouri Public Service Commission that addresses the commission's concerns about the effect of the merger on retail competition in the state; and with a variety of wholesale customers that had intervened in federal proceedings. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a license transfer application related to the merger. The merger requires approval by the FERC and the SEC and review by the Department of Justice. Once the merger is completed, the new company will be called American Electric Power. 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.