Near ZANESVILLE, Ohio, April 6, 2000 – Before a backdrop of gently rolling hills of former mine land dotted with young trees, American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) planted the final tree in its 5-year, 15-million tree commitment to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Climate Challenge project.

The Director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Sam Speck, witnessed the planting of the final tree and participated in the inauguration of AEP’s new commitment. Speck and Dale Heydlauff, AEP’s vice president of environmental affairs, planted the first two trees of the company’s pledge to the state’s Bicentennial Legacy Tree Planting Program.

Announced by Governor Bob Taft on Earth Day 1999, the Bicentennial Legacy Tree Planting Program aims at planting one new tree for each school child in Ohio before the 200th anniversary of Ohio statehood, to be celebrated in 2003.

“These two seedlings represent AEP’s promise to Ohio children and to their future,” Heydlauff said. “In the next four years, we will plant five million more trees, which will greatly enhance the state’s Bicentennial Legacy Tree Planting Program. When today’s children are adults, they will be able to visit a thriving young forest, study a blossoming natural habitat and breathe air that has been filtered by nature’s own cleansing system.”

Heydlauff was referring to the ability of trees and other vegetation to sequester the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.

Speck said, “I am honored to help AEP plant this historic 15 millionth tree, and I congratulate the company for an outstanding example of environmental stewardship. These efforts represent an important commitment to the reforestation of Ohio. The new commitment announced by AEP today to plant an additional five million trees will help enhance the governor’s goal of planting one new tree for every Ohio school child before the state’s Bicentennial in 2003.”

Through the Governor’s initiative, trees are also being planted along Ohio roadways and in urban areas around the state.

In its seven-state service territory, AEP has planted more than 53.4 million trees on land owned by the company, and owns more than 200,000 acres of forest.

“AEP fosters a strong commitment to environmental stewardship, and being here today – surrounded by land being restored to its glorious, natural state – makes me that much more aware of the importance of our work,” Heydlauff said. “We’ve made terrific progress with our environmental program, and we will continue efforts as long as this country needs our energy.”

American Electric Power was recently recognized as one of the nation’s first companies to receive certification for practicing sustainable forestry by the American Tree Farm System. The company was also honored as Ohio’s “Tree Farmer of the Year” by the Ohio Tree Farm Committee.

AEP is an active member of the Environmental Millennium Initiative, a collaborative effort of like-minded companies and their environmental and community partners whose goals are to support, promote and expand environmental stewardship projects locally and around the world, and to recruit others to join the partnership. For information about the Environmental Millennium Initiative, visit its web site at http://www.environmental-mi.com.

AEP, a global energy company, is one of the United States’ largest investor-owned utilities, providing energy to 3 million customers in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. AEP has holdings in the United States, the United Kingdom, China and Australia. Wholly owned subsidiaries provide power engineering, energy consulting and energy management services around the world. The company is based in Columbus, Ohio.