PSO has named John Harper as Vice President for External Affairs, replacing Bill McKamey, who has retired.
 
Harper returns to Oklahoma, where he started his career at PSO, from PSO´s parent AEP, where he was Vice President for Business Logistics.
 
In his new role, Harper will have responsibilities for PSO´s Governmental and Environmental Affairs, Community Relations, Economic Development and Corporate Communications functions.
 
"I´m very excited that John is returning to PSO, where he started his career," said Stuart Solomon, PSO president and chief operating officer.  "He brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the position and will be an effective leader in this critical area for PSO."
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Harper joined AEP in July 2000 when AEP’s merger with Central and South West Corp. (CSW) was completed.  Previous to this, he served as vice president and group director for SEEBOARD plc, a CSW subsidiary in the United Kingdom.
 
He joined CSW in 1979 as an information analyst for the PSO Black Fox nuclear station.  He held a variety of posts with PSO, including manager, standards and measurements; manager, financial analysis; consultant, corporate planning; director, quality improvement; and division manager.  Harper also had served as PSO’s Eastern Division Manager; served as executive assistant to the president of CSW Electric and executive assistant to the chairman and chief executive officer of CSW.
 
Harper earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and public administration from Evangel University in 1977 and a master’s degree in business administration from Oral Roberts University in 1980.
 
PSO, a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), is an electric utility company serving approximately 531,000 customers in eastern and southwestern Oklahoma. Based in Tulsa, PSO has 4,408 megawatts of generating capacity, and is the largest provider of wind energy in the state. News releases and other information about PSO can be found on the World Wide Web at PSOklahoma.com.