Exhibit 24

                        POWER OF ATTORNEY

              AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY, INC.
      Annual Report on Form lO-K for the Fiscal Year Ended
                        December 31, 1996

     The undersigned director of AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY,
INC., a New York corporation (the "Company"), does hereby consti-
tute and appoint E. LINN DRAPER, JR., G. P. MALONEY and P. J.
DeMARIA, and each of them, his attorneys-in-fact and agents, to
execute for him, and in his name, and in any and all of his
capacities, the Annual Report of the Company on Form lO-K, pursuant
to Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 1996, 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 has signed these presents
this 18th day of December, 1996.

                                   /s/ Robert W. Fri
                                   -------------------------------
                                   Robert W. Fri


                                                       Exhibit 24


                        POWER OF ATTORNEY

              AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY, INC.
      Annual Report on Form lO-K for the Fiscal Year Ended
                        December 31, 1996

     The undersigned directors of AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY,
INC., a New York corporation (the "Company"), do hereby constitute
and appoint E. LINN DRAPER, JR., G. P. MALONEY and P. J. DeMARIA,
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 lO-K, pursuant
to Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 1996, 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 26th day of February, 1997.

/s/ P. J. DeMaria                  /s/ G. P. Maloney
- ------------------------------     -------------------------------
P. J. DeMaria                      G. P. Maloney

/s/ E. Linn Draper, Jr.            /s/ Angus E. Peyton
- ------------------------------     -------------------------------
E. Linn Draper, Jr.                Angus E. Peyton

/s/ Robert M. Duncan               /s/ Donald G. Smith
- ------------------------------     -------------------------------
Robert M. Duncan                   Donald G. Smith

/s/ Arthur G. Hansen               /s/ Linda Gillespie Stuntz
- ------------------------------     -------------------------------
Arthur G. Hansen                   Linda Gillespie Stuntz

/s/ Lester A. Hudson, Jr.          /s/ Morris Tanenbaum
- ------------------------------     -------------------------------
Lester A. Hudson, Jr.              Morris Tanenbaum

/s/ Leonard J. Kujawa              /s/ Ann Haymond Zwinger
- ------------------------------     -------------------------------
Leonard J. Kujawa                  Ann Haymond Zwinger