Charleston, W.Va., November 14, 2008 – Residential customers across Appalachian Power’s Virginia and West Virginia service territory are turning to lighting with improved efficiency faster than the company expected. A recent company survey reveals that more than 62 percent of customers are using energy efficient lighting in their homes. The company sees the same trend across the American Electric Power (NYSE:AEP) 11-state service territory.
 
“The numbers really startled us,” said Mark Gilbert, AEP director – economic forecasting.  “We were expecting something more on the order of 40 percent.  This represents a huge swing in our customers’ use of energy efficient lighting in just a short number of years.  I cannot think of a similar case where our customers have adopted an energy-saving appliance or device to this extent in such a short period of time.”
 
The company conducted the lighting survey in August to help determine energy efficient lighting usage trends. The information is helpful in forecasting load and predicting where to add facilities to meet customer demands.

The survey showed that customers install energy efficient lighting in rooms that give them the most energy and cost savings because they are rooms that tend to have lights on for longer periods of time. People are installing energy efficient lighting in kitchens and living rooms where lights tend to stay on more than two hours a day, according to the Energy Information Administration.
           
The switch to energy efficient lighting is a growing trend and customers are pleased with the quality of the new lighting options. Nearly 40 percent of those surveyed reported having energy efficient lighting for less than one year in most of the rooms they mentioned in the survey. Approximately 84 percent report being satisfied or very satisfied with their energy efficient lighting.
           
The types of customers making the switch to energy efficient lighting may come as a surprise. Comparing the survey results to census data suggests that older customers and higher-income customers are the ones who are most likely to use energy-efficient lighting.
           
Some 65 percent of respondents from areas with older residents said they use energy-efficient lighting, and only 22 percent of that group said they aren’t familiar with the technology.  Among respondents from areas with younger residents, 55 percent said they use energy-efficient lighting and 29 percent aren’t familiar with it.
           
In areas with the highest household income, 68 percent of the customers said they are using energy-efficient lighting and only 16 percent are not familiar with it.  In the areas with the lowest household income, 52 percent of the customers are using energy-efficient lighting and 32 percent are not familiar with it.
 
Approximately 4,500 residents participated in the telephone survey giving the survey a margin of error of about 1.5 percent (plus or minus) across AEP. About 300 responses were obtained from each jurisdiction, giving the local data a margin of error of approximately 5.6 percent.  
 
Appalachian Power encourages customers to be informed consumers of electricity. To learn more about energy savings, visit WattWhyandHow.com where customers can get energy saving tips, and use calculators to determine energy and cost savings potential from changing habits or switching to more efficient appliances and lighting.
 
Appalachian Power provides electricity to 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, with more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation’s largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined.
 
                                            ###