CHICAGO, June 25, 2012 – BlueStar Energy Solutions (BlueStar), a subsidiary of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), will begin operating as AEP Energy June 29. AEP acquired BlueStar March 7.

AEP Energy will consist of two business units, energy supply and energy management.  The energy supply business will be led by Jim Petersen and provide electricity supply for residential, commercial and industrial customers in Ohio, Illinois and other deregulated markets. AEP Energy also recently received approval to market natural gas to customers in Ohio. Energy management will be led by Scott Slisher and will continue providing energy solutions, including demand response and energy efficiency services, nationwide. Petersen and Slisher report to Greg Hall, president, AEP Energy Partners.

“BlueStar’s name may be going away, but the hustle, innovation and focus on customers will not. Our existing customers should see no change in the service that we provide, beyond a new name on their bill. And, the innovative energy solutions that we can offer to help customers use less energy and pay less for it will be enhanced,” Hall said.

“Changing BlueStar’s name to AEP Energy is not only appropriate now that BlueStar is part of AEP, but also an important challenge for our team. While we operate independently, it is inspiring to be part of a diverse company that is one of the largest electricity providers in the nation and has provided reliable, affordable electricity to customers for more than a century,” Hall added.

AEP Energy’s operations will continue to be based in Chicago, with offices in Columbus, Ohio, and Marysville, Calif. AEP Energy has 280 employees.

AEP Energy is a retail electricity supplier supplying electricity to business and residential customers. One of the fastest-growing energy suppliers in the United States, AEP Energy provides a wide array of energy solutions including retail electric supply and is operating in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio and Washington, D.C. AEP Energy also provides energy demand-side management solutions nationwide.  For more information visit http://www.aepenergy.com/. 

While it is an affiliate of AEP Ohio, AEP Energy does not solicit on behalf of and is not an agent for AEP Ohio. AEP Ohio customers do not need to purchase any competitive retail electric service from AEP Energy to receive or to continue to receive non-competitive retail electric service from AEP Ohio.

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 39,000 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.