COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 27, 2002 - American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) on Thursday received Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval of its corporate separation plan to form wholly owned regulated and unregulated companies.

AEP filed the request with FERC in July 2001. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval of the plan is the final approval required. AEP filed documents with the SEC in November 2000 outlining its corporation separation plans.

“We’re pleased that the FERC has approved our request and are optimistic that the SEC will do likewise, “ said E. Linn Draper Jr., AEP’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. “We are encouraged that our corporate separation can be implemented by the end of this year.

“Separation of our regulated and unregulated businesses makes strategic sense for AEP and our shareholders,” Draper said. “Our plan will foster accountability within AEP’s business units, enable investors to more clearly assess our businesses, permit more efficient financing, and set the stage for possible future options. It also allows us to comply with industry restructuring legislation in Ohio and Texas.”

AEP’s plan provides for one corporation to hold AEP’s subsidiaries whose revenues derive from activities that are competitive and primarily market-based, and for the other corporation to hold AEP’s utility subsidiaries that are subject to regulation by at least one state utility commission. Generation-related operations in the deregulated states of Ohio and Texas, and other unregulated operations, would fall under the unregulated corporation while the regulated corporation would house transmission, distribution and regulated generation operations.

American Electric Power is a multinational energy company with a balanced portfolio of energy assets. AEP, the United States’ largest electricity generator, owns and operates more than 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. and select international markets. AEP is a leading wholesale energy marketer, ranking among North America’s top providers of wholesale power and natural gas with a growing wholesale presence in European markets. In addition to electricity generation, AEP owns and operates natural gas pipeline systems, natural gas storage, coal mines, and the fourth-largest inland barge company in the U.S. AEP is also one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, with almost 5 million customers linked to AEP’s wires. The company is based in Columbus, Ohio.