COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 16, 2006 – American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) will build an 83,500-square-foot operations center in Central Ohio to house its transmission operations staff.

The operations center, to be built on a 35-acre parcel of land in the Village of New Albany, will expand the space available for AEP’s transmission control and dispatching operations. The new operations center will cost approximately $44 million. The existing operations center in downtown Columbus will serve as a backup to the new center and as a training facility.

“We are outgrowing our existing space, and soon we will need to upgrade the equipment and capabilities of our operations center to conform with enhanced transmission reliability standards mandated by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and currently under development by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,” said Michael G. Morris, AEP’s chairman, president and chief executive officer “It is best that we build a state-of-the-art center specifically designed to meet the needs of our transmission operations staff.”

The company expects to start construction by late summer, with completion of the operations center expected during the third quarter of 2007. Approximately 115 employees involved in transmission operations will relocate to the new center when it is completed.

“Our decision to build a new operations center represents a significant investment in our transmission system and demonstrates the importance we place on assuring transmission reliability,” Morris said. “It also keeps these jobs in Central Ohio, showing our commitment to the area.”

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 is the nation’s largest generator of electricity, owning more than 36,000 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 utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas). American Electric Power, based in Columbus, Ohio, is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2006.