Kingsport, Tenn., November 13, 2009 – Kingsport Power, doing business in Tennessee as AEP Appalachian Power, today made a filing with Tennessee regulators under its existing tariff to pass through to retail customers an increase in purchased power costs. The company is requesting to implement an overall increase of about 5.5 percent in electric rates effective January 1.
            
Last year Appalachian Power Company (APCo) received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to amend the Interconnection Agreement between APCo and Kingsport Power to reflect an increased level of purchased power costs over a three-year period. The Tennessee utility owns no power plants and purchases all of its power from APCo at wholesale rates regulated by FERC.
 
In conjunction with the FERC approval the Tennessee Regulatory Authority (TRA) approved the pass-through of increased purchased power costs for the first year of the Agreement. Today’s tariff filing with the TRA reflects new surcharges in its Purchased Power Adjustment Rider (PPAR) to reflect increased generation and transmission costs.
 
Based on the filing, a Kingsport residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours in a month can expect a bill of approximately $81.82, an increase of $4.17 per month, or 5.4 percent. Even with the proposed increase, Kingsport Power rates remain among the lowest in the region—and the U.S. The company serves approximately 47,000 customers in eastern Tennessee.
 
Customers who recognize that they may have bill problems or may be unable to pay a full amount should contact the company on-line at www.appalachianpower.com or by phone at 1-800-967-4237 as soon as possible in order to work out payment arrangements.
           
Appalachian Power provides electricity to 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, with 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.                                                                         ###