AEP Retail Energy Completes Purchase of BlueStar Energy

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) and its unregulated subsidiary AEP Retail Energy has completed the acquisition of BlueStar Energy Holdings Inc. and its independent retail electric supplier BlueStar Energy Solutions.

BlueStar, based in Chicago, provides electric supply for retail customers in Ohio, Illinois and other deregulated electricity markets. The company also provides energy solutions, including demand response and energy efficiency services, nationwide. BlueStar has been in operation since 2002 and has more than 23,000 customer accounts.

BlueStar's operations will continue to be based in Chicago and will remain focused on providing retail electric service for residential, commercial and industrial customers in deregulated states, as well as demand response and energy efficiency services nationwide. BlueStar currently employs 219.

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 and north Texas). AEP's headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio. News releases and other information about AEP can be found at www.aep.com.