<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>EX-24
<SEQUENCE>16
<FILENAME>x24.txt
<DESCRIPTION>POWER OF ATTORNEY
<TEXT>
                                                                      Exhibit 24
                               POWER OF ATTORNEY

                     AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY, INC.
              Annual Report on Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended
                               December 31, 2003


      The undersigned directors of AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY, INC., a New
York corporation (the "Company"), do hereby constitute and appoint MICHAEL G.
MORRIS, STEPHEN P. SMITH and SUSAN TOMASKY, and each of them, their
attorneys-in-fact and agents, to execute for them, and in their names, and in
any and all of their capacities, the Annual Report of the Company on Form 10-K,
pursuant to Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, for the fiscal
year ended December 31, 2003, and any and all amendments thereto, and to file
the same, with all exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith,
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said
attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and authority to do
and perform every act and thing required or necessary to be done, as fully to
all intents and purposes as the undersigned might or could do in person, hereby
ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents, or any of
them, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

      IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned have signed these presents this 28th
day of January, 2004.


   /s/ E. R. Brooks                          /s/ Leonard J. Kujawa
------------------------------------      ------------------------
E. R. Brooks                              Leonard J. Kujawa


   /s/ Donald M. Carlton                     /s/ Michael G. Morris
------------------------------------      ------------------------
Donald M. Carlton                         Michael G. Morris


   /s/ John P. DesBarres                     /s/ Richard L. Sandor
------------------------------------      ------------------------
John P. DesBarres                         Richard L. Sandor


   /s/ Robert W. Fri                         /s/ Thomas V. Shockley, III
------------------------------------      ------------------------------
Robert W. Fri                             Thomas V. Shockley, III


   /s/ William R. Howell                     /s/ Donald G. Smith
------------------------------------      ----------------------
William R. Howell                         Donald G. Smith


   /s/ Lester A. Hudson, Jr.                 /s/ Linda Gillespie Stuntz
------------------------------------      -----------------------------
Lester A. Hudson, Jr.                     Linda Gillespie Stuntz


                                             /s/ Kathryn D. Sullivan
                                          Kathryn D. Sullivan



</TEXT>
</DOCUMENT>
