BECKLEY, W.Va., February 22, 2005 – AEP-Appalachian Power today signed a letter of understanding with the Beckley Higher Education Center to provide advice and assistance with energy technologies for the facility.
           
The Higher Education Center, located east of Beckley along Interstate 64, will serve as a common location for seven institutions of higher learning to offer classes. In addition to providing the various schools a location for their course offerings, the Center will be a showplace for advanced building design and energy utilization.  

Appalachian Power will support the development of the Center and will actively assist the Center in identifying the most up-to-date energy use and production technologies that may be suitable for inclusion in the Center’s design and or operations. The company may also assist the Center in securing energy technologies through direct financial support, recommendations to vendors seeking equipment test locations or other research and development activities.

"As part of our partnership, AEP-Appalachian Power will provide the new center with advice on available technologies, assistance in evaluating equipment and building design performance and assistance with formulating and distributing information about the center," said Mark Dempsey, vice president, external affairs for Appalachian Power.

"We are very interested in new technologies and have an ongoing interest in advanced energy production and utilization technologies," said David Nichols of AEP´s Dolan Technology Laboratory, which will work closely with officials at the new center. "This partnership presents a good opportunity to use some of those technologies in the facility."

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.