COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 23, 1999 -- Officials of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) and Buckeye Power, Inc., have reached agreement on a long-term arrangement for power and energy services. Under the arrangement, AEP will develop a 510 megawatt peaking power plant in Ohio on behalf of Buckeye Power. The plant will consist of three natural gas-fired combustion turbines. Officials of both organizations are working together to complete details of the agreement. Completion of the project is scheduled for 2002. AEP will assume responsibility for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the facility. Other services will be provided under an arrangement similar to the joint arrangement that AEP and Buckeye established more than 30 years ago in connection with the operation of the Cardinal Power Plant located near Brilliant, Ohio. Cardinal Plant was the first major generating station in the United States to be jointly owned by an investor-owned utility and member-owned rural electric cooperatives. "We're extremely pleased to have completed this arrangement with Buckeye Power," said E. Linn Draper Jr., chairman, president and chief executive officer of AEP. "It will provide Buckeye with a reliable source of electricity over the long term.” "The project will help us ensure that we can meet the long-term electricity needs of Ohio’s 25 electric cooperatives and their customers,” said Richard K. Byrne, president and chief executive officer of Buckeye Power. 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. On Dec. 22, 1997, AEP announced a definitive merger agreement for a tax-free, stock-for-stock transaction with Central and South West Corp., a public utility holding company based in Dallas. Buckeye Power, Inc., is a member-owned generation and transmission cooperative supplying electric power and energy to the electric distribution cooperatives in Ohio. The cooperatives’ certified service territory covers nearly 40 percent of the land area in the state and encompasses 77 of Ohio’s 88 counties. They serve approximately 321,000 homes, farms, businesses and industries. Buckeye Power owns 1,230,000 kilowatts of coal-fired generation capacity at the Cardinal Power Plant near Brilliant, Ohio. Buckeye is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.