AEP Increases Quarterly Dividend to 47 Cents a Share

News provided by

Oct 25, 2011, 10:44 ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of American Electric Power Co. (NYSE: AEP) today declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of 47 cents a share on the company's common stock, increasing the dividend 2.2 percent from the previous 46 cents a share. This is the company's third dividend increase since April 2010.

The dividend is payable Dec. 9, 2011, to shareholders of record as of Nov. 10, 2011, and is the company's 406th consecutive quarterly common stock cash dividend. AEP has paid a cash dividend on its common stock every quarter since July 1910.

"Since I joined AEP in 2004 and we refocused on our regulated utility business strategy, we have had the opportunity to begin rebuilding the dividend. In that time, we have increased our quarterly dividend from 35 cents a share to 47 cents a share, representing a compound annual growth rate of 4.1 percent," said Michael G. Morris, AEP chairman and chief executive officer. "We recognize that dividends play an important role in an investor's portfolio, and we continue to demonstrate our strong commitment to those returns with our 406th consecutive quarterly dividend payment to our shareholders."

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.