GAHANNA, Ohio Oct.5, 2011— AEP Ohio, a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) joined local and state officials today in Paulding County to dedicate the Timber Road II Wind Farm, Ohio’s first industrial-scale wind farm. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was hosted by EDP Renewables North America, a global leader in the renewable energy sector based in Houston, Texas, and developer of the Timber Road II facility. The company was formerly known as Horizon Wind Energy.

            The Timber Road ll facility consists of 55 wind turbines that will produce enough electricity to power more than 27,000 homes. In November 2010, AEP Ohio entered into a long-term purchase power agreement for wind energy. Through a 20-year agreement, AEP Ohio will purchase all of the output, including renewable energy credits, from the 99 megawatt (MW) facility. The agreement is subject to regulatory approval pending before the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). The facility is located on Road 17 in Payne, Ohio. At the peak of construction the facility had as many as 200 people working on-site and from start to finish more than 800 Ohioans worked on construction of the wind farm.

            “We are proud to play an instrumental role in continuing to advance renewable energy initiatives in Ohio,” said Joe Hamrock, president and chief operating officer for AEP Ohio. “Supporting the development of in-state wind projects leverages Ohio’s renewable energy requirements in the right way –generating new investment in our state and creating jobs to help grow our economy.”
            In addition to the Timber Road II agreement, AEP Ohio has a long-term power agreement for 100 MW of wind energy from the Fowler Ridge II Wind Farm located in Indiana and a long-term power agreement for solar energy from the 10.08-MW Wyandot Solar facility in Upper Sandusky, Ohio.  Also, AEP Ohio announced it would purchase all of the output from the planned 49.9-MW Turning Point Solar project, to be built on approximately 650 acres of reclaimed surface mine land owned by AEP in southeast Ohio. This agreement also is subject to regulatory approval and is pending before the PUCO.

           AEP Ohio provides electricity to nearly 1.5 million customers of major AEP subsidiaries Columbus Southern Power Company and Ohio Power Company in Ohio, and Wheeling Power Company in the northern panhandle of West Virginia. AEP Ohio is based in Gahanna, Ohio, and is a unit of American Electric Power. News and information about AEP Ohio can be found at aepohio.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 Texas). AEP’s headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio.

###