COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 22, 2009 – James F. Cordes, former executive vice president of The Coastal Corp., has been elected to American Electric Power’s (NYSE: AEP) board of directors, according to Lester A. Hudson Jr., presiding director of AEP’s board of directors.

With the election of Cordes, AEP’s board includes 13 directors, 12 of whom are outside directors. The only inside director is Michael G. Morris, AEP chairman, president and chief executive officer.

“Jim Cordes brings to our board more than 30 years of success in the interstate natural gas pipeline business facing issues similar to those we are experiencing today as we grow our electric transmission business. Our board also will benefit from the insights Jim has gained about the electric utility industry," Hudson said.

Cordes, 68, retired as executive vice president of The Coastal Corp. in 1997. He also served as president of American Natural Resources Co. and chairman and chief executive officer of ANR Pipeline Co. Cordes currently is a director of Comerica Inc., where he serves as chairman of the Enterprise Risk Committee and as a member of the Audit Committee. He also is a trustee of Northeast Utilities, where he serves as chairman of the Corporate Responsibility Committee and as a member of the Audit and Compensation Committees. Cordes is past chairman of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America and has served as a director and member of the Executive Committee of the American Gas Association.

A resident of The Woodlands, Texas, Cordes earned a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from St. Louis University, a Master of Business Administration from Creighton University and a Master of Science in Industrial and Management Systems Engineering from the University of Nebraska. He has served as a director and member of the Executive Committees of both the Detroit Symphony and the Houston Symphony.

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.