COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 23, 2001 - American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) today announced ongoing earnings for the year 2000 of $2.70 per share, completing a year of noteworthy achievement that positions the company for significant growth in 2001.

"Our efforts the past year have concentrated on closing our merger with Central and South West Corporation, completing work necessary to restart both units at our Cook Nuclear Plant, and refocusing our strategy for structuring a robust wholesale business," said E. Linn Draper Jr., AEP’s chairman, president and chief executive officer.

"We are already seeing the synergy savings brought by the merger closing, as evidenced by the trend in operating and maintenance costs, which is flat for the year," Draper said. "We expect to continue to hold these costs flat as we go forward."

Cook Unit 2 returned to service in June and Cook Unit 1 was restarted in late December. With both units running at full power, Cook generates 2,110 megawatts, enough power to serve the needs of a city of more than 1 million people. The restart costs, excluding amortization, reduced earnings by $0.76 per share in 2000.

Earnings for the year and fourth quarter were:

	Twelve months ended Dec. 31
EPS ($/share):	2000	1999	Variance
Ongoing:	2.70	2.86	(0.16)
As Reported:	1.85	3.03	(1.18)
Earnings ($ in millions):
Ongoing:	869	917	(48)
As Reported:	596	972	(376)
	Fourth quarter ended Dec. 31
EPS ($/share):	2000	1999	Variance
Ongoing:	0.49	0.48	0.01
As Reported:	0.33	0.60	(0.27)
Earnings ($ in millions):
Ongoing:	158	154	4
As Reported:	106	193	(87)

Extraordinary and special items recorded in both periods were due to costs associated with the merger of Central and South West Corporation, introduction of customer choice in Ohio, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia jurisdictions, and adjustments at various non-regulated entities. Amounts for all prior periods have been restated on a pooling of interest basis to reflect the merger with Central and South West Corporation that was consummated on June 15, 2000.

"Our trading and wholesale power marketing operations continue to be important contributors to our business," Draper said. "Wholesale margins were 41 cents per share higher than last year. This success reflects our commitment to be a leader in wholesale markets and validates our growth strategy announced in October.

"We reframed our strategy on the wholesale business, which includes fuel procurement, energy assets, wholesale marketing and trading," Draper said. "Our 38,000 megawatts of generation, intrastate pipelines, gas storage facilities, our technical and operational expertise, as well as the depth and experience of our trading and marketing staff give us a superior platform for growth. Our strategy is to improve margins by integrating all of these components to create value for our customers and shareholders."

As part of the strategy, AEP announced this month that it will acquire Houston Pipe Line Co. (HPL) from Enron. HPL’s Texas intrastate system includes more than 4,400 miles of pipe with capacity of approximately 2.4 billion cubic feet per day and the operation of the Bammel Storage Facility, the largest storage facility in North America with a capacity of approximately 118 billion cubic feet and significant injection and withdrawal capacity. HPL enhances AEP’s platform for growth in the gas market. AEP currently ranks second in the U.S. in power trading volume and expects to rise to the top 10 in natural gas volume this year.

During the fourth quarter, AEP announced a plan to separate into regulated and nonregulated businesses by the beginning of 2002. This reorganization is intended to create future options to value the different growth characteristics of these businesses.

"In 2001 we will continue to focus on executing our corporate separation plan and expanding our wholesale business," Draper said. "We anticipate ongoing earnings to grow to $3.40 to $3.50 per share."

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AEP’s fourth-quarter conference call with analysts will be broadcast live over the Internet at 10:30 a.m. EST today. The webcast is at http://www.videonewswire.com/AMERICAN/012301/ For those unable to listen during the live webcast, the call will be archived for replay on AEP’s web site, http://www.aep.com. To access the replay, click on "Investor Relations." Once in "Investor Relations," go to "Company Updates" and click on "Conference Call Webcast."

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American Electric Power is a multinational energy company based in Columbus, Ohio. AEP owns and operates more than 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity, making it one of America’s largest generators of electricity. The company is also a leading wholesale energy marketer and trader, ranking second in the U.S. in electricity volume. AEP provides retail electricity to more than 9 million customers worldwide and has more than $55 billion in assets, primarily in the U.S. with holdings in select international markets. Wholly owned subsidiaries are involved in power engineering and construction services, energy management and telecommunications.

View Financial Data here

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News releases and other information about AEP can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.aep.com.

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The comments set forth above include forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including (1) statements concerning the Company’s plans, objectives, expected performance and expenditures and (2) other statements that are other than statements of historical fact. These forward-looking statements reflect assumptions, and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements are electric load and customer growth, abnormal weather conditions, availability of generating capacity, the ability to recover net regulatory assets and other stranded costs in connection with deregulation of generation, the outcome of environmental regulation and litigation, the impact of fluctuation in commodity prices and interest rates, and other risks and unforeseen events over which the Company has no control. The reader is also directed to the Company’s periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for additional factors that may impact the Company’s results of operations and financial condition. Furthermore, historical results may not be indicative of the Company’s future performance.