COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 26, 2004 - American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) is reorganizing its distribution and customer service operations into seven regional utility divisions, placing operational authority in the hands of division presidents and their support staffs.

"We are creating strong regional utilities to move decision-making responsibility closer to the customers and other external stakeholders," said Michael G. Morris, AEP chairman, president and chief executive officer. "The division presidents and their staffs will have first-hand knowledge of distribution system conditions in their regional utilities and of customers´ concerns. They will have full authority to make decisions on operation and maintenance of the distribution system in their regions to address those concerns."

Prior to the reorganization, both distribution and customer service functioned on a centralized basis, reporting to AEP management in Columbus. State presidents focused primarily on legislative and regulatory issues.

In the new organizational structure, utility division presidents will have authority for distribution operations and a wide range of customer and regulatory relationships. Generation, transmission, distribution dispatch, call centers and support services will continue to operate on a centralized basis.

"Creating regional organizations for distribution operations and customer service but keeping other operations centralized will strengthen our ties to the local communities while retaining the efficiencies and low costs that are important to our customers and regulators," Morris said.

Presidents for utilities in AEP´s eastern states will report to Holly Koeppel, executive vice president - AEP Utilities-East. The states include Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Koeppel is currently AEP´s executive vice president - commercial operations.

Presidents for utilities in AEP´s western states will report to Tom Hagan, executive vice president - AEP Utilities-West. The states include Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. Hagan is currently AEP´s executive vice president - shared services.

The regional utility divisions and presidents are:

• AEP-Ohio - Kevin Walker, president and chief operating officer. Walker is currently vice president, maintenance and construction with Consolidated Edison in New York. AEP-Ohio, with headquarters in Columbus, will include all of AEP´s customers in Ohio and the northern West Virginia panhandle near Wheeling, W.Va. AEP-Ohio will serve approximately 1.44 million customers.

• Appalachian Power - Dana Waldo, president and chief operating officer. Waldo is currently president and chief executive officer of the West Virginia Roundtable, but previously was with AEP and served as the company´s state president for West Virginia. Appalachian Power will include all AEP customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee except those in the Wheeling, W.Va., area. Operations will have headquarters in Charleston, W.Va., with external affairs and regulatory services offices in Charleston and in Richmond, Va. Appalachian Power will serve approximately 975,000 customers.

• Indiana Michigan Power - Marsha Ryan, president and chief operating officer. Ryan is currently AEP´s senior vice president - customer operations. Indiana Michigan Power will include all AEP customers in Indiana and Michigan. Operations will have headquarters in Fort Wayne, Ind., with external affairs offices in Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, and Lansing, Mich. Indiana Michigan Power will serve approximately 575,000 customers.

• Kentucky Power - Tim Mosher, president. Mosher is currently AEP´s state president in Kentucky. Kentucky Power will include all of AEP´s Kentucky customers and have headquarters in Frankfort, Ky. Kentucky Power will serve approximately 175,000 customers.

• AEP-Texas - Charles Patton, president and chief operating officer. Patton is currently AEP´s state president for Texas. AEP-Texas will include all customers currently served by AEP´s Texas Central and Texas North subsidiaries. Operations will have headquarters in Corpus Christi, Texas, but external affairs and regulatory services offices will remain in Austin. AEP-Texas will serve approximately 901,000 customers.

• Public Service Company of Oklahoma - Stuart Solomon, president and chief operating officer. Solomon is currently AEP´s vice president - public policy and regulatory services. Public Service Company of Oklahoma, or PSO, will include all of AEP´s Oklahoma customers. Operations will have headquarters in Tulsa. External affairs and regulatory services offices will be in Oklahoma City. PSO will serve approximately 505,000 customers.

• Southwestern Electric Power Company - Nick Akins, president and chief operating officer. Akins is currently AEP´s vice president - energy marketing services. Southwestern Electric Power, or SWEPCO, will include all AEP customers in Louisiana, Arkansas and northeast Texas. SWEPCO headquarters will be in Shreveport, La. SWEPCO will serve approximately 439,000 customers.

Each regional utility division will have management and staff responsible for distribution operations (including engineering, design and safety), customer services (including customer account management and meter operations), external affairs (including state government relations, environmental affairs, community affairs and communications), regulatory services (including regulatory filings administration and interface with public service commission staffs), and financial (including budgeting and analysis activities and tracking financial performance).

Organizational changes are effective June 1.

The creation of regional utility divisions that include areas served by multiple AEP public utility subsidiaries will not change the legal status of those subsidiaries. The AEP-Ohio utility division includes areas served by AEP subsidiaries Ohio Power Co., Columbus Southern Power Co. and Wheeling Power Co. The Appalachian Power utility division includes areas served by AEP subsidiaries Appalachian Power Co. and Kingsport Power Co. AEP-Texas includes areas served by AEP Texas Central Co. and AEP Texas North Co. Each public utility subsidiary will still exist for legal and regulatory purposes.

Logos, photographs and other information relevant to the reorgnization can be downloaded at www.aep.com/go/regions.

American Electric Power owns and operates more than 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States and select international markets and is the largest electricity generator in the U.S. AEP is also one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, with more than 5 million customers linked to AEP’s 11-state electricity transmission and distribution grid. The company is based in Columbus, Ohio.