Exhibit 24
                                POWER OF ATTORNEY

                      AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY, INC.
                 Annual Report on Form lO-K for the Fiscal Year
                                      Ended
                                December 31, 1998


      The undersigned directors of AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY,  INC., a New
York  corporation  (the  "Company"),  do hereby  constitute  and appoint E. LINN
DRAPER,  JR.,  ARMANDO  A.  PENA and  HENRY W.  FAYNE,  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, 1998, 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 24th
day of February, 1999.


  /s/ John P. DesBarres               /s/ Angus E. Peyton
John P. DesBarres                         Angus E. Peyton


  /s/ E. Linn Draper, Jr.             /s/ Donald G. Smith
E. Linn Draper, Jr.                       Donald G. Smith


  /s/ Robert M. Duncan                /s/ Linda Gillespie Stuntz
Robert M. Duncan                          Linda Gillespie Stuntz


  /s/ Robert W. Fri                   /s/ Kathryn D. Sullivan
Robert W. Fri                             Kathryn D. Sullivan


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


  /s/ Leonard J. Kujawa
Leonard J. Kujawa