COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 30, 2012 – The following statement can be attributed to AEP Ohio President and Chief Operating Officer Pablo Vegas:

“Today’s decision by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to extend the temporary capacity charge is appropriate. We commend the PUCO for taking the time necessary to fully consider the implications that moving to a competitive market in Ohio will have for electricity consumers and AEP Ohio.

“AEP Ohio is ready to embrace electricity competition, but the transition must be done in a manner that doesn’t unduly harm or unfairly enrich any individual utility or retail energy provider, while providing benefits for consumers. We’re committed to working with the PUCO to achieve a fair regulatory outcome, similar to what has been provided for other Ohio utilities, that allows for a reasonable transition to full competition over the next few years.”

AEP Ohio provides electricity to nearly 1.5 million customers of major AEP subsidiaries 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.