Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
American Electric Power

Michael G. Morris is leading AEP's efforts to develop:

• An advanced interstate high-voltage transmission system that efficiently delivers wholesale power regionally within a competitive market while enhancing regional reliability;
  
  
• Extra high-voltage transmission line projects with a number of joint venture partners in Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia;
  
  
• Innovative carbon capture and storage systems at one or more AEP coal-powered generating plants; and
  
  
• Energy efficiency and load demand reduction initiatives as well as integration of new intelligent distribution grid technologies to provide greater service quality, reliability and control of energy usage to customers.

Morris was chairman, president and CEO of Northeast Utilities System from 1997 to 2003, where he led the company during its $1.3 billion sale of the Millstone Station nuclear plant in 2001, a $679 million merger with Yankee Energy System Inc., and the acquisition of Connecticut Valley Electric Co. He was also heavily involved in the formation of ISO-New England, as well as restructuring and retail customer choice in the New England states.

Before joining Northeast Utilities, Morris was president and CEO of Consumers Energy, principal subsidiary of CMS Energy, and president of CMS Marketing, Services and Trading. He was previously president of Colorado Interstate Gas Co. and executive vice president of marketing, transportation and gas supply for ANR Pipeline Co., both subsidiaries of El Paso Energy. Morris was the founder and president of ANR Gathering Co., one of the first gas marketing companies in the United States. Morris is chairman of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) and past chairman of the Edison Electric Institute. He also serves on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Electricity Advisory Board, the National Governors Association’s Task Force on Electricity Infrastructure, Business Roundtable (chairing the Business Roundtable's Sustainable Growth Initiative). Morris is chairman of the Columbus Downtown Development Corporation & Capitol South. He serves as a director of the boards of Alcoa, Battelle, Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited, and The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. He is past chairman of the board of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association and the Ohio Business Roundtable.

Born in Fremont, Ohio, Morris graduated from Eastern Michigan University with both bachelors and masters degrees in biology. He served on the Board of Regents at Eastern Michigan University from 1997-2004. In 1995 he received the university’s Distinguished Alumnus Award. During his graduate years, he was commander of the ROTC Brigade. After he graduated in 1973, he worked in the environmental department of Commonwealth Associates, where he prepared environmental impact statements for electrical utility transmission lines, natural gas and oil pipelines, and power plants.

Morris received a law degree, cum laude, from the Detroit College of Law and is a member of the Michigan Bar Association. He is a past member of the Board of the Detroit College of Law.