American Electric Power 2008 Corporate Sustainability Report

2008 Corporate Sustainability Report 17 We have addressed potential impacts through installation of fish ladders and by shutting down operations during spawning season. On the flip side, many of AEP’s power plants and trans- Issues section to read about the MESH initiative’s work to improve safety and health.) DEVELOPING A SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAIN mission corridor projects are recognized for the habitat they support. Eight power plants and two transmission line corridor projects were recertified by the Wildlife Habitat Council last year as Wildlife at Work programs. Flint Creek Plant in Arkansas received a special award for its pollinator protection efforts. AEP’s investments in forestry not only benefit us by providing carbon storage, they also help to avoid deforestation and provide thriving habitats for endangered species. In the United States, AEP partnered with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and The Conservation Fund to restore bottomland hardwood forests in the lower Mississippi River Valley. The project involved more than 18,000 acres and planting more than 3 million bottomland hardwood seedlings. They will provide habitat for local waterfowl, shorebirds and neo-tropical migratory birds, as well as white-tail deer, cottontail rabbits, river otters and many others. Learn more at www.AEP.com/cr/ecological. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT—THE CHECKS & BALANCES We are looking at how we manage our supply chain in terms of environmental and social performance. We are identifying opportunities to work more closely with suppliers on a range of issues and have begun discussions with many of them. We place a high priority on safety, health and the environment – and we will require our suppliers to share that commitment. WORKING WITH OUR COAL SUPPLIERS Environmental Performance Our relationship with our coal suppliers is of particular concern to some of our stakeholders. Our choice of suppliers is determined largely by a least-cost procurement process to enhance our ability to receive full cost recovery from regulators. Because of this dynamic, we would be dependent on our regulators to accept a decision to buy fuel from certain higher cost suppliers even if the costs were higher as a result of better health, safety and environmental performance. We are developing a process with coal suppliers to measure and track their safety, health and environmental performance, which we hope to implement in 2010. This type of transparency is new to our industry. We invite our peers to join us in working with the mining industry to adopt similar standards. One issue we have been pressed to address is our position on mountaintop mining. As a regulated utility, we have an obligation to provide reliable electricity to our customers while taking steps to minimize cost. We do not make choices based on mining practices; our focus is on quality of coal and cost. However, we expect our suppliers to make every effort to operate in compliance with all regulations that apply to their industry. When our new process is in place, we will have greater transparency of our coal suppliers’ mining operations, allowing us to make more informed decisions that we will share with regulators. Because of today’s tight coal market and the duty to serve customers, We work hard to measure and manage our environmental performance. But how do we keep ourselves in compliance on an ongoing basis? How do we manage and minimize water and energy use, waste and the impact of our daily activities on the environment? We are implementing an initiative to conform to ISO 14001, an international standard for managing environmental performance, which will supplement our ongoing environmental programs. This is important to ensure that our future work force has the knowledge and access to information needed to maintain compliance. We began implementation of ISO 14001 at 12 power plants in 2007. Seven power plants and 17 hydro facilities will begin Phase One implementation in 2008 as part of our MESH initiative. (See the Work Force http://www.AEP.com/cr/ecological

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of American Electric Power 2008 Corporate Sustainability Report

American Electric Power 2008 Corporate Sustainability Report Contents Leadership, Management & Strategy A Message from Michael G. Morris A Message from Dennis E. Welch About This Report Environmental Performance Work Force Issues Public Policy Climate Change Energy Security, Reliability & Growth Stakeholder Engagement Glossary GRI Table of Contents

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