GAHANNA, Ohio, March 19, 2015 – AEP Ohio, an operating unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), announced today its launch of an outage alert notification program where customers can sign up to receive information regarding power outages via text messages and/or email. The launch is part of continued customer experience enhancements AEP Ohio is making that began with a complete re-design of the company’s website aepohio.com.

Customers who enroll in the program will be notified when an outage has been reported in their area and will continue to receive updates as AEP Ohio crews determine the outage cause and can provide an estimated time for power restoration. Customers will also receive notification when power has been restored.

To register, customers simply need to log in to their account, click on MANAGE ALERTS and edit their notification preferences. Those who want to receive notifications but do not have an online account will need to start an account by visiting https://www.aepohio.com/account and click REGISTER. Customers can view a how-to-register video at https://youtu.be/B6jJG4M0cm8.

The outage alert program comes on the heels of research that indicates customers want AEP Ohio to take advantage of technology to communicate news and outage information.

“We are committed to continually enhancing how we communicate with our customers,” said Pablo Vegas, AEP Ohio president and chief operating officer. “We want to exceed customer expectations with every interaction. To do that, we are listening to our customers and the outage alert program is an important step in addressing their needs and wants.”

The company plans to expand the program in the near future to include billing alerts, which will provide customers with billing reminders and payment notices.

 AEP Ohio delivers electricity to nearly 1.5 million customers of AEP’s major subsidiary Ohio Power Company. 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 5.3 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 40,000-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. News releases and other information about AEP can be found at aep.com.