AUSTIN, TEXAS, July 18, 2011 –As the drought across Texas continues, the potential for new wildfires is increasing. With hundreds of employees and contractors constructing and maintaining electric facilities throughout Texas, AEP Texas and Electric Transmission Texas, LLC (ETT), would like to remind everyone to take appropriate precautions to help prevent wildfires.
 
Wildfires are dangerous for humans and can have a devastating impact on homes, livestock, wildlife, ranch land, as well as electrical substations, poles and related equipment.  Whether at work or at play, everyone can take steps to ensure he or she is not the cause of a fire, while constantly being on the lookout for situations that have the potential for disaster. According to Smokeybear.com, over 38 million acres in the United States have burned so far in 2011. Smokey offers these safety precautions to take when it comes to preventing wildfires:

• If smoking is permitted outdoors, safe practice requires a 3-foot clearing around the smoker.
• Don't park your vehicle on dry grass.
• If off-road vehicle use is allowed, internal combustion equipment requires a spark arrester.
• Know your county's outdoor burning regulations. Unlawful trash burning is a punishable offense.
• At the first sign of a wildfire, leave area immediately by established trails or roads. Contact a Ranger as soon as possible. If escape route is blocked, go to the nearest lake or stream.
• Leave campsite as natural as possible, traveling on trails and other durable surfaces.
• Inspect your site upon leaving.
• Never take burning sticks out of a fire.
• Never take any type of fireworks on public lands.
• Keep stoves, lanterns and heaters away from combustibles.
• Store flammable liquid containers in a safe place.
• Never use stoves, lanterns and heaters inside a tent

For more information about wildfires and forest fires, please go to www.smokeybear.com.
 
AEP Texas serves nearly one million electric consumers in the deregulated Texas marketplace. As an energy delivery (wires) company, AEP Texas delivers electricity safely and reliably to homes, businesses and industry across its nearly 100,000 square mile service territory in west and south Texas. AEP Texas also builds new power lines, restores service following outages and handles electric metering REPs throughout its service territory. The company also connects or disconnects service upon the orders of the REPs. AEP Texas is part of the American Electric Power (AEP) system.

ETT, a joint venture between subsidiaries of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) and MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company (MidAmerican), acquires constructs, owns and operates transmission facilities within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, primarily around the AEP Texas Central Company and AEP Texas North Company service territories.

AEP, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest electric utilities in the U.S., delivering electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP (www.aep.com) has extensive experience building extra-high-voltage 765-kV transmission lines and owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes 2,100 miles of 765-kV transmission lines, more than all other U.S. transmission systems combined.

MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company (www.midamerican.com), based in Des Moines, Iowa, is a global provider of energy services to more than 6.9 million customers worldwide. MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company subsidiaries, PacifiCorp and MidAmerican Energy Company, own and operate more than 18,000 miles of electric transmission lines.