COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 26, 2010 – Six new public safety advertisements from American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) begin airing this month on broadcast and cable television networks across AEP’s 11-state service territory. Complementary print ads will appear in regional and local newspapers.

Produced in English and Spanish versions, two “Dr. Seuss” style ads feature couples safely undertaking home projects. The ads remind consumers to call the nationwide, 811 number to have underground wires marked before digging and to be aware of overhead lines during any maintenance or construction projects around the home. The third ad, “Hope,” warns of the dangers of copper theft from electrical equipment and asks the public to report suspicious activity. Broadcast and print components of the campaign will run intermittently through August 2010. Internet versions of the ads will be introduced in April and will run through December.

The campaign was developed for AEP by Inventiva, an advertising agency based in San Antonio, Texas. The ads can be viewed at http://www.aep.com/about/ads/.

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.