COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 30, 2003 - American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) has named Coulter R. (Dick) Boyle to the new position of senior vice president - commercial business services and Laura J. Thomas to the post of vice president - fuel and cost recovery.

Boyle had been vice president - regulatory services for AEP since 1999 and Thomas had served as director - regulated pricing and analysis since 1996.

“Dick and Laura have detailed knowledge of public policy, energy pricing and the resulting impact on AEP’s financial performance,” said Holly Koeppel, AEP’s executive vice president - commercial operations. “They bring critically important skills to the commercial operations team.”

The focus of AEP’s commercial operations organization is to capture and sustain maximum value from the company’s utility generating fleet.

Boyle, who will report to Koeppel, joined Columbus & Southern Ohio Electric Co. in 1970. AEP later acquired that company. Boyle transferred to Kentucky Power Co., another AEP operating company, in 1981 as accounting manager. He was named vice president - accounting, rates and finance in 1987 and in 1990 advanced to president and chief operating officer of Kentucky Power. He became AEP’s first Indiana-Michigan state president in 1996.

Boyle earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Ohio University and a master of business administration degree from Xavier University. Boyle, a certified public accountant, also completed the executive program at the Colgate Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia in 1987.

Thomas, who will report to Boyle, joined AEP in 1982. She has held several positions in the rate research and design organization. Thomas earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics from The Ohio State University and recently completed the Developing Executive Women workshop in Columbus.

American Electric Power owns and operates more than 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States and select international markets and is the largest electricity generator 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 11-state electricity transmission and distribution grid. The company is based in Columbus, Ohio.