This optional coverage helps customers protect electrical products damaged due to power surges

GAHANNA, Ohio, March 3, 2015 – Beginning in early March, AEP Ohio, a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE:AEP), will offer residential customers who rent the option of obtaining protection to repair or replace electrical products damaged due to power surges. This new coverage is one of several service plans offered by the company’s home warranty program announced last May, through its partnership with HomeServe USA, a third-party home repair service provider.

The roll out will be conducted in phases, first to rental customers, and then expanded to include homeowners later this year.

“We are pleased to be able to offer rental customers Electrical Surge Coverage, an optional program that can help repair or replace electronics such as computers, televisions, tablets and other consumer appliances that are damaged as a result of an electrical surge,” said Karen Sloneker, AEP Ohio’s director of customer services and marketing. “Should this equipment be damaged, the cost to repair or replace them can be expensive. We are happy to be able to offer this program first to renters, and look forward to expanding the program to include homeowners later this year.”

For about $6.00 a month, residential customers will be able to get up to $3,000 in coverage annually. The charge for the program will be added to the customer’s monthly electric bill, and the customer can cancel warranty coverage at any time.

The program covers electrical products with a value of more than $100. Customers will have access to a 24-hour repair hotline, and repairs will be performed by local, certified technicians. Electrical products that cannot be repaired will be replaced with a product that is similar in kind and quality.

For more information on Electrical Surge Coverage, visit AEPOhio.com/SurgeProtection.

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AEP Ohio provides electricity to nearly 1.5 million customers of major AEP subsidiaries Ohio Power Company in Ohio. AEP Ohio is based in Gahanna, Ohio, and is a unit of American Electric Power. News and information about AEP Ohio can be found at AEPOhio.com.

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 40,000-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 and north Texas). AEP’s headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio. News releases and other information about AEP can be found at AEP.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Fay White
AEP Ohio:  1-866-641-1151
aepohiomediarelations@aep.com