SWEPCO Seeks Arkansas Supreme Court Review of Turk Plant Case

Plant Construction Continues

SHREVEPORT, La., June 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Southwestern Electric
Power Company (SWEPCO), a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), has
asked the Arkansas Supreme Court to review a case concerning the John W. Turk
Jr. Power Plant because of what SWEPCO considers to be errors in an appeals
court ruling. In a June 24 decision, the Arkansas Court of Appeals overturned
the Arkansas Public Service Commission's (APSC) decision to grant a
Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need (CECPN) for
construction of the Turk Plant.

For the near term, SWEPCO is continuing construction of the $1.6 billion plant
in Hempstead County, Ark. "By law, the CECPN issued by the APSC remains in
effect during the appeal process," said Paul Chodak, SWEPCO president and
chief operating officer.

"The APSC approval was overturned because the court objected to the approval
procedure and not because the judges objected to the Turk Plant. We believe
the Turk Plant holds the best future for long-term reliability and affordable
power for our customers," Chodak said.

"Since the court's decision was announced, we have heard clear support from
many stakeholders - including community leaders, business and economic
development groups, and elected officials - who want to see the plant
completed," Chodak said. "They realize its importance to individual customers
and to the health of the state's economy."

If SWEPCO is forced to stop construction at the Turk Plant, it will cost
valuable time and money. "Approximately $713 million has already been spent on
plant construction, and a total of $1.3 billion has been committed. It would
cost even more to stop construction and then restart it," Chodak said. "These
costs have been prudently incurred under an order of the Arkansas Public
Service Commission. The longer it takes for construction, the longer it takes
for customers to get an additional power resource and the more it will cost
customers in the long run. It will also affect the expected jobs and the
needed revenues that will go into Arkansas' tax base."

A CECPN is legal authorization granted by the state of Arkansas to a regulated
utility to construct a power plant or transmission facilities and is only
issued after public and formal review by the state and interested
stakeholders.

The Turk Plant has received approval in all three states served by SWEPCO. The
plant also has received the required air permit. "Our efforts over the past
several years have followed the standard regulatory process of each state.
SWEPCO prudently followed the Arkansas rules in an established regulatory
process. But the court's decision rejected that process, which has been used
and relied upon for decades," Chodak said. "Everything we have done in
planning for additional generation capacity is rooted in our dedication to
providing affordable and reliable electric service for our customers. Meeting
our customers' current and future electricity needs is not only our mission;
it is also our obligation," Chodak said.

SWEPCO also has an obligation to its partners. One partner in the Turk Plant
is the Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation, which provides electricity
to about 490,000 customers in Arkansas. The electric cooperatives own 12
percent of the Turk Plant. Therefore, it is not just SWEPCO's Arkansas
customers that are damaged by further delay, but also these additional
Arkansas customers.

The court's decision also potentially affects the plant's construction work
force, which currently stands at 723 people, about 400 of whom live in
Hempstead County and nearby counties. Well over 1,000 people will be at work
when construction activities peak.

The APSC granted SWEPCO's application for a CECPN on Nov. 21, 2007 and issued
an amended CECPN on Dec. 31, 2007. SWEPCO began construction of the plant in
Hempstead County, Ark., after the company received an air permit from the
Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality in November 2008. The air permit
is under appeal before the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission.
The Louisiana Public Service Commission and Public Utility Commission of Texas
approved construction of the plant in March 2008 and July 2008, respectively.

The timetable for the appeal process is uncertain. If the Arkansas Supreme
Court grants SWEPCO's request for review, the court may elect to accept briefs
or oral arguments, but there is no specific time frame for a decision. The
Supreme Court will be in recess from mid-July until after Labor Day.

SWEPCO's new generation projects include the 600-megawatt (MW) coal-fueled
Turk Plant in southwest Arkansas, designed to meet the company's base load
needs, with a projected completion date of 2012. The 508-MW combined-cycle,
natural gas-fueled Stall Unit is designed to serve intermediate load - between
base load and peak load - and is under construction in Shreveport, La. It is
scheduled for completion in 2010. The 340-MW simple-cycle, natural gas-fueled
Mattison Plant in Tontitown, Ark., was completed in 2007 and is now helping to
meet peak demand on the SWEPCO system.

"Together, these three plants will allow SWEPCO to continue the fuel diversity
that has resulted in some of the lowest electricity prices in the region for
many years," Chodak said. For example, SWEPCO's average residential rate is
13.8 percent lower than the Arkansas state average and 31.3 percent lower than
the national average.

The Turk Plant's "ultra-supercritical" advanced coal combustion technology
will use less coal and produce fewer emissions, including carbon dioxide, than
traditional pulverized coal plants. The plant will use low-sulfur coal and
will include state-of-the-art emission control technologies, including a
design that allows for the retrofit of carbon dioxide controls. "It will be
one of the cleanest, most efficient coal-fueled plants in the United States,"
Chodak said.

SWEPCO serves more than 473,500 customers in three states, including 113,500
in western Arkansas, 180,000 in Northwest Louisiana, and 180,000 in East and
North Texas. SWEPCO's headquarters are in Shreveport, La. News releases and
other information about SWEPCO can be found at www.swepco.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 and north
Texas). AEP's headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio. News releases and other
information about AEP can be found at www.aep.com.

This report made by AEP and its Registrant Subsidiaries contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934. Although AEP and each of its Registrant Subsidiaries
believe that their expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, any such
statements may be influenced by factors that could cause actual outcomes and
results to be materially different from those projected. Among the factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the
forward-looking statements are: electric load and customer growth; weather
conditions, including storms; available sources and costs of, and
transportation for, fuels and the creditworthiness and performance of fuel
suppliers and transporters; availability of generating capacity and the
performance of AEP's generating plants; AEP's ability to recover regulatory
assets and stranded costs in connection with deregulation; AEP's ability to
recover increases in fuel and other energy costs through regulated or
competitive electric rates; AEP's ability to build or acquire generating
capacity (including AEP's ability to obtain any necessary regulatory approvals
and permits) when needed at acceptable prices and terms and to recover those
costs through applicable rate cases or competitive rates; new legislation,
litigation and government regulation including requirements for reduced
emissions of sulfur, nitrogen, mercury, carbon, soot or particulate matter and
other substances; new legislation, litigation and government regulation
including requirements for reduced emissions of sulfur, nitrogen, mercury,
carbon, soot or particulate matter and other substances; timing and resolution
of pending and future rate cases, negotiations and other regulatory decisions
(including rate or other recovery for new investments, transmission service
and environmental compliance); resolution of litigation (including pending
Clean Air Act enforcement actions and disputes arising from the bankruptcy of
Enron Corp. and related matters); AEP's ability to constrain operation and
maintenance costs; the economic climate and growth in AEP's service territory
and changes in market demand and demographic patterns; inflationary and
interest rate trends; AEP's ability to develop and execute a strategy based on
a view regarding prices of electricity, natural gas and other energy-related
commodities; changes in the creditworthiness of the counterparties with whom
AEP has contractual arrangements, including participants in the energy trading
market; actions of rating agencies, including changes in the ratings of debt;
volatility and changes in markets for electricity, natural gas and other
energy-related commodities; changes in utility regulation, including the
potential for new legislation in Ohio and membership in and integration into
regional transmission organizations; accounting pronouncements periodically
issued by accounting standard-setting bodies; the performance of AEP's pension
and other postretirement benefit plans; prices for power that AEP generates
and sells at wholesale; changes in technology, particularly with respect to
new, developing or alternative sources of generation; other risks and
unforeseen events, including wars, the effects of terrorism (including
increased security costs), embargoes and other catastrophic events.

SOURCE American Electric Power

MEDIA CONTACTS: SWEPCO Corporate Communications: Scott McCloud,
+1-318-673-3532, or Kacee Kirschvink, +1-318-673-3394, or Peter Main,
+1-479-973-2526; AEP Corporate Communications: Director, Corporate Media
Relations, Pat Hemlepp, +1-614-716-1620; ANALYSTS CONTACT: Julie Sherwood,
Director, Investor Relations, +1-614-716-2663