AEP Names Mark McCullough Executive Vice President of Generation

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Dec. 21, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Mark C. McCullough has been named executive vice president – generation for American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), effective Jan. 1, 2011. He has been senior vice president – fossil and hydro generation since 2008.

McCullough will succeed Nicholas K. Akins, who was elected president of the company beginning Jan. 1, 2011.

In his new position, McCullough will have responsibility for the management of AEP's fossil, hydro and wind generating units. This includes engineering, construction and operation of generating units, and activities related to fuel procurement and emission monitoring and logistics. He will report to Akins.

"Mark has clearly demonstrated the leadership skills and technical knowledge needed to lead our power generation activities," Akins said. "He is the right person to address the strategic and operational objectives for our fleet while ensuring that our customers have an efficient and reliable supply of energy available to them."

McCullough, 51, has worked his entire career at AEP. He joined the company in 1981 at AEP's Tanners Creek Plant in Lawrenceburg, Ind. He held a variety of positions at Tanners Creek, including maintenance superintendent and operation superintendent, before being named assistant plant manager at AEP's Amos Plant in St. Albans, W.Va., in 1994. From 1995 to 1997, McCullough was manager, Northern Region Service Organization, responsible for the management of scheduled outages and major project work for more than 10,000 MW of coal-fueled generation. In 1997, he was named manager, strategic planning, Power Generation, leading the AEP Generation merger team and developing, coordinating and tracking strategic initiatives for AEP's Power Generation Group. McCullough was named region director, Region 2, Wholesale Generation with responsibility for AEP's generation in Ohio and West Virginia in 2000. He was named region director – Ohio, unregulated generation in 2002 and then became vice president, fossil and hydro generation – baseload assets in 2003. In 2008, he was named senior vice president – fossil and hydro generation.

McCullough has a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from Rose Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind.

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