COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 22, 2018 – American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) has been named to Fortune magazine’s World’s Most Admired Companies list in the electric and gas utilities sector for the fifth year in a row. The survey measures nine attributes related to financial performance and corporate reputation.

“AEP’s success is driven by the commitment of our 17,000 employees, who work every day to provide our customers with safe, reliable energy and strengthen the communities we serve,” said Nicholas K. Akins, AEP’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. “We’re building upon AEP’s legacy of operational excellence, innovation and strong financial performance by delivering the new technologies, smart solutions and cleaner energy our customers want, while continuing to invest in our communities and rewarding our shareholders.”

Each year, Fortune surveys top executives, directors and financial analysts about the companies in their industry based upon nine criteria: financial soundness, use of corporate assets, long-term investment value, quality of management, quality of products and services, people management, innovation, social responsibility, and global competitiveness. A total of 680 companies from 29 countries were surveyed to arrive at this year’s list.

American Electric Power, based in Columbus, Ohio, is focused on building a smarter energy infrastructure and delivering new technologies and custom energy solutions to our customers. AEP’s more than 17,000 employees operate and maintain the nation’s largest electricity transmission system and more than 224,000 miles of distribution lines to efficiently deliver safe, reliable power to nearly 5.4 million regulated customers in 11 states. AEP also is one of the nation’s largest electricity producers with approximately 33,000 megawatts of diverse generating capacity, including 4,200 megawatts of renewable energy. AEP’s family of companies includes utilities 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 also owns AEP Energy, AEP Energy Partners, AEP OnSite Partners and AEP Renewables, which provide innovative competitive energy solutions nationwide.