Charleston, W.Va., December 21, 2005 --Appalachian Power customers and AEP customers in Kingsport, Tenn., set an unofficial all-time peak demand of 7,100 megawatts (MW) at 8 a.m. yesterday as chilling single-digit temperatures covered the region. The new demand tops the prior record of 6,908 MW set February 5, 1996.
 
“Extreme cold temperatures, combined with steady growth in customer consumption of electricity in the Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee territory served by AEP resulted in the new all-time peak customer demand,” said Dana Waldo, Appalachian Power president and COO.

“Cold weather and high winds were cited for causing nearly 29,000 Appalachian Power customer outages yesterday morning,” Waldo said. “With few exceptions, all customers had their service restored by midnight. Our employees are to be commended for working safely and diligently in these extreme weather conditions, and we thank our customers who experienced interruptions for their patience.”
 
AEP’s Kentucky Power customers also set a new all-time peak usage yesterday at 9 a.m with a 1,615 MW demand. The prior peak was 1,579 set January 3, 2001. Both new company peaks will be confirmed in January when additional metering information is available to verify the customer consumption.
 
Appalachian Power provides electricity to 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee.  It is a unit of American Electric Power, the nation’s largest electricity generator.  AEP owns more than 36,000 megawatts of generating capacity and is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, with more than 5 million customers in 11 states.
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