COLUMBUS, Ohio, June 15, 2009 – AEP Ohio, a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) has signed a long-term power purchase agreement for solar energy with Wyandot Solar LLC, a subsidiary of juwi solar Inc. juwi solar, Inc. is a solar energy company based in Colorado that develops, designs, builds and operates utility-scale solar projects in North America.
            Through the 20-year agreement, AEP Ohio will purchase all of the output, including renewable energy credits, from the 10.08-megawatt (MW) Wyandot Solar facility to be located adjacent to AEP Ohio’s North Upper Sandusky substation in Upper Sandusky, OH. The project, located on approximately 80 acres in Salem Township, will consist of 160,000 FS-2 Series PV Modules supplied by First Solar, Inc., a company that manufactures solar modules in Perrysburg, OH. Construction for the project will begin November 2009. The facility is expected to be in commercial operation by mid-summer 2010. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
            “AEP Ohio continues to diversify its current generation mix by offering renewable energy sources such as wind and now solar to serve our customers’ energy needs,” said Joseph Hamrock, president and chief operating officer of AEP Ohio. “This introduction of solar also helps AEP Ohio comply with the solar benchmark requirements set forth by the State of Ohio through Ohio Substitute Senate Bill 221.”
            Ohio Substitute Senate Bill 221 requires that AEP Ohio supply 0.010 percent of its load in 2010 with generation from solar resources, and 0.030 percent in 2011. The benchmark requirements ramp up annually to a total of 0.5 percent by the end of 2024. AEP Ohio anticipates having to add incremental solar generation of approximately 10 MW annually from 2011 through 2024.
            “We believe solar energy in Ohio is a viable option in providing renewable resources for our customers’ future long-term energy needs,” said Hamrock. “Solar also is growing in commercial viability as AEP Ohio has demonstrated on two Ohio service centers in Athens and Newark. There, we have installed over 500 rooftop panels combined to help power these buildings.”
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            AEP Ohio provides electricity to nearly 1.5 million customers of major AEP subsidiaries Columbus Southern Power Company and Ohio Power Company in Ohio, and Wheeling Power Company in the northern panhandle of West Virginia. AEP Ohio is based in Gahanna, Ohio, and is a unit of American Electric Power. 
            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.