Gahanna, Ohio (April 1, 2011) -- For the second consecutive year, AEP Ohio has provided $50,000 to support a project of Hard Hatted Women (HHW).

HHW provides targeted recruitment, training and services to women with the goal of advancing them in high wage trade and technical careers. The funds will be used to support the organization’s Tradeswomen TOOLS (Training Outreach Opportunity Leadership and Support) program that targets women living at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

Through the program, HHW will develop a pool of trained role models and speakers to serve as mentors for future training services and will assist participants in outreaching to employers in trade and technical fields. The organization is headquartered in Cleveland, but provides services to women throughout the state.

“We greatly appreciate AEP Ohio’s continuing support of our programs that help low-income women participate in non-traditional careers,” said Terri Burgess Sandu, HHW executive director.

Funding for the HHW project comes from AEP Ohio’s Partnership With Ohio (PWO) fund. The fund is a three-year $15 million shareholder-financed project that provides help in the areas of health, hunger and housing to Ohio’s needy families. PWO-funded programs are designed to include families with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, a segment of the population that often does not qualify for state and federal aid.

"In times like these, AEP Ohio along with other businesses and government must work together to help ease the burden Ohio families face," said Joseph Hamrock, AEP Ohio president and chief operating officer. "We are pleased to be able to collaborate with community organizations such as HHW to help prepare Ohioans for the workforce moving forward."

Since 2009, the company has provided $9.1 million through the PWO fund to support regional food banks and United Way agencies, workforce development initiatives, direct bill payment assistance and weatherization efforts for low-income customers. AEP Ohio also has used the funding to support the company’s Neighbor-to-Neighbor Program, a program designed to help low-income customers struggling to pay their electric bill.

AEP Ohio provides electricity to nearly 1.5 million customers of major AEP subsidiaries Columbus Southern Power Company and Ohio Power Company in Ohio, and Wheeling Power Company in the northern panhandle of West Virginia. AEP Ohio is based in Gahanna, Ohio, and is a unit of American Electric Power.

American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to 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. AEP’s transmission system directly or indirectly serves about 10 percent of the electricity demand in the Eastern Interconnection, the interconnected transmission system that covers 38 eastern and central U.S. states and eastern Canada, and approximately 11 percent of the electricity demand in ERCOT, the transmission system that covers much of Texas. AEP’s utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas). AEP’s headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio.