SHREVEPORT, La., September 22, 2008 – The Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) has approved a request by Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO), a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), to construct a 500-megawatt natural gas-fueled unit in  Shreveport. The five-member Commission unanimously approved the request for certification on September 10, 2008.

“We are very pleased that the Louisiana Commission has recognized the importance of this unit for meeting the future needs of our customers,” said Paul Chodak, SWEPCO president and chief operating officer. “SWEPCO customers will receive long-term benefits of reliable and affordable electricity from the J. Lamar Stall Unit at Arsenal Hill Power Plant.”

As part of the Louisiana approval, SWEPCO will work with an independent monitor to track construction of the unit for the LPSC.

The 500-MW unit is scheduled for commercial operation in 2010 to meet additional electricity demand growth from 2010 and beyond. At a projected cost of $378 million, it will be SWEPCO’s first combined-cycle gas unit, with up to 400 construction jobs and 14 permanent positions. Named for former SWEPCO president J. Lamar Stall, the unit is located on the same property as the existing Arsenal Hill 110-MW cycle gas-fired unit, which will remain in operation. 

This intermediate-term gas-fueled unit is part of SWEPCO’s previously announced plans to meet short-term and long-term energy needs of its customers. The company has completed a 300-megawatt natural gas-fueled peaking plant at Tontitown in Northwest Arkansas. Also, the company plans to build the John W. Turk, Jr. Power Plant, a 600-megawatt, ultra-supercritical baseload coal-fueled plant, in Hempstead County in southwest Arkansas.

“The combination of natural-gas fueled peaking and intermediate facilities, along with coal-fueled baseload generation will allow SWEPCO to continue the strategic fuel mix that has served our customers well for decades,” Chodak said.

SWEPCO serves more than 473,500 customers in three states, including 113,500 in western Arkansas, 180,000 in Northwest Louisiana, and 180,000 in East and North Texas. SWEPCO’s headquarters are in Shreveport, La. News releases and other information about SWEPCO can be found at www.swepco.com.

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 and north Texas). AEP’s headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio. News releases and other information about AEP can be found at www.aep.com.

This report made by AEP and its Registrant Subsidiaries contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Although AEP and each of its Registrant Subsidiaries believe that their expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, any such statements may be influenced by factors that could cause actual outcomes and results to be materially different from those projected. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are: electric load and customer growth; weather conditions, including storms; available sources and costs of, and transportation for, fuels and the creditworthiness and performance of fuel suppliers and transporters; availability of generating capacity and the performance of AEP’s generating plants; AEP’s ability to recover regulatory assets and stranded costs in connection with deregulation; AEP’s ability to recover increases in fuel and other energy costs through regulated or competitive electric rates; AEP’s ability to build or acquire generating capacity (including AEP’s ability to obtain any necessary regulatory approvals and permits) when needed at acceptable prices and terms and to recover those costs through applicable rate cases or competitive rates; new legislation, litigation and government regulation including requirements for reduced emissions of sulfur, nitrogen, mercury, carbon, soot or particulate matter and other substances; new legislation, litigation and government regulation including requirements for reduced emissions of sulfur, nitrogen, mercury, carbon, soot or particulate matter and other substances; timing and resolution of pending and future rate cases, negotiations and other regulatory decisions (including rate or other recovery for new investments, transmission service and environmental compliance); resolution of litigation (including pending Clean Air Act enforcement actions and disputes arising from the bankruptcy of Enron Corp. and related matters); AEP’s ability to constrain operation and maintenance costs; the economic climate and growth in AEP’s service territory and changes in market demand and demographic patterns; inflationary and interest rate trends; AEP’s ability to develop and execute a strategy based on a view regarding prices of electricity, natural gas and other energy-related commodities; changes in the creditworthiness of the counterparties with whom AEP has contractual arrangements, including participants in the energy trading market; actions of rating agencies, including changes in the ratings of debt; volatility and changes in markets for electricity, natural gas and other energy-related commodities; changes in utility regulation, including the potential for new legislation in Ohio and membership in and integration into regional transmission organizations; accounting pronouncements periodically issued by accounting standard-setting bodies; the performance of AEP’s pension and other postretirement benefit plans; prices for power that AEP generates and sells at wholesale; changes in technology, particularly with respect to new, developing or alternative sources of generation; other risks and unforeseen events, including wars, the effects of terrorism (including increased security costs), embargoes and other catastrophic events.