COLUMBUS, Ohio, June 28, 2011 – American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) has named Lisa Barton executive vice president – AEP Transmission, effective Aug. 1. Barton currently is senior vice president – transmission strategy and business development for AEP.

Barton, 45, will have responsibility for the transmission organization, including transmission operations and new transmission business ventures, and will report to Nick Akins, AEP president. She will be replacing Susan Tomasky, who is retiring as president – AEP Transmission. Barton also serves as president of Electric Transmission America (ETA), a joint venture between AEP and MidAmerican Energy Holding Company.

“Lisa’s leadership skills and deep utility industry experience will serve AEP well as we continue working to build an interstate transmission system that strengthens the grid, supports renewable energy development and serves as a financial growth engine for the company,” said Michael G. Morris, AEP chairman and chief executive officer.

Akins said, “Her detailed knowledge of transmission strategy and operations provides an excellent foundation to further AEP’s transmission business leadership and advance partnerships and joint business ventures to ensure a secure energy future in AEP’s service territory and beyond.”

Prior to her current position, Barton was vice president of transmission strategy and business development, managing director of transmission, and director of transmission planning for AEP. She joined the company in 2006 from Northeast Utilities, where she was responsible for transmission strategy, regional transmission organization relations, and compliance.

Barton earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1987 from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Mass., and a juris doctorate degree in 1993 from Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Mass. She is a graduate of The Executive Program-Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and a 2010 International Women's Foundation Fellow. Barton is a member of the New Hampshire and Massachusetts state bar associations and serves as a member of the board of directors for Amethyst, Inc., Homeless Families LLC and the Columbus Museum of Art.

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.