COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 16, 2003 - American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) has scheduled a live webcast of Thursday’s briefing by E. Linn Draper Jr., AEP’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, at the Merrill Lynch Power & Gas Leaders Conference in New York.

Draper’s briefing on the company´s strategy and operations will be part of a panel presentation scheduled for 9:15 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. EDT Thursday. The live webcast of the panel discussion can be accessed through the Internet at http://www.aep.com/go/webcast.

American Electric Power owns and operates more than 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States and select international markets and is the largest electricity generator 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 11-state electricity transmission and distribution grid. The company is based in Columbus, Ohio.