COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- For the fifth
consecutive year, American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) has been
named one of the most adoption-friendly workplaces by the Dave
Thomas Foundation for Adoption.
AEP reimburses employees up to $3,000 per child for eligible adoption-related
expenses and provides up to 40 hours of paid leave for new adoptive
parents. Since early 2007, AEP has assisted its employees with more
than 60 adoptions.
"We recognize the value of offering family-friendly programs to
our employees and are pleased to support them by helping to defray
the costs of adopting children," said Curt
Cooper, AEP's director of employee benefits. "It is an honor
to receive the Dave Thomas Foundation award for the fifth straight
year."
Information from nearly 500 employers nationwide was used to
compile the foundation's annual rankings of adoption-friendly
workplaces. The rankings are based on the maximum amount of
financial reimbursement and paid leave per adoption.
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is a non-profit, public
charity dedicated to dramatically increasing adoptions of the more
than 150,000 children in North
America's foster care systems. The late Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's Restaurants and
an adopted child, created the foundation in 1992. More information
is available at www.davethomasfoundation.org.
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.
SOURCE American Electric Power