COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 30, 2002 - American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) has received an informal data request from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) asking the company to voluntarily provide documents related to “round-trip” or “wash” trades. A number of other companies have previously confirmed receiving similar informal requests from the SEC.

AEP will fully comply with the request, which was received Wednesday.

The SEC request relates to “round trip” or “wash” sales that have also been the subject of prior information requests from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission with which the company has complied.

As has been previously disclosed, AEP completed a review of its trading activities from Jan. 1, 1999 through March 31, 2002, a period that included more than 1.2 million trading transactions. The company identified and subjected to further review domestic trading transactions that involved sequential trades with the same terms and counterparties, which amounted to approximately one-quarter of 1 percent of total trading transactions. The total contribution of these transactions to gross revenue is not material. The company believes that substantially all of these transactions involve economic substance and risk transference and do no constitute “round trip” or “wash” sales.

American Electric Power is a multinational energy company with a balanced portfolio of energy assets. AEP, the United States’ largest electricity generator, owns and operates more than 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. and select international markets. AEP is a leading wholesale energy marketer, ranking among North America’s top providers of wholesale power and natural gas with a growing wholesale presence in European markets. In addition to electricity generation, AEP owns and operates natural gas pipeline systems, natural gas storage, coal mines, and the fourth-largest inland barge company in the U.S. AEP is also one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, with almost 5 million customers linked to AEP’s wires. The company is based in Columbus, Ohio.