Central and South West Corporation Consolidated Earnings Report
Dallas, Texas (October 20, 1999) -- Central and South West Corporation (NYSE: CSR) reported consolidated earnings per basic and diluted share for the following periods ended September 30:

The financial statements of CPL, SWEPCO and WTU reflect regulatory assets and liabilities under cost-based rate regulation in accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 71, "Accounting for the Effects of Certain Types of Regulation. " Rate-regulated companies are required to write off regulatory assets and liabilities against current earnings whenever changes in facts and circumstances cause SFAS No. 71 to no longer apply. As a result of legislation passed in Texas and Arkansas, the electricity generation business for CPL, SWEPCO and WTU no longer meet the criteria to apply SFAS No. 71.

Consequently, SWEPCO took a charge to earnings of $0.01 per share for its electricity generation business in Texas and Arkansas, while WTU took a charge of $0.03 per share for its electricity generation business in Texas. The discontinuance of SFAS No. 71 for CPL did not result in a net charge to earnings as such net regulatory assets are expected to be recovered pursuant to the legislation. Electric utilities under the Texas legislation are allowed to recover stranded costs that otherwise may not be recoverable in the future competitive market. A majority of those regulatory assets and stranded costs can be recovered through securitization, which is a financing process to recover those costs through the use of debt that lowers the financing costs of assets compared to conventional utility financing methods.

The Texas legislation also provides that, each year during the 1999 through 2001 rate freeze period, utilities with stranded costs are required to apply any earnings in excess of the most recently approved cost of capital (if issued on or after January 1, 1992) to reduce stranded costs. As a result, CPL recorded a net charge to earnings of $0.02 per share to reflect the impact of this provision. Utilities without stranded costs must either flow such amounts back to customers or make capital expenditures to improve transmission or distribution facilities or to improve air quality. As a result, WTU recorded a charge to earnings of $0.03 per share from the effect of the earnings cap under the Texas legislation.

Three Months Earnings
Earnings adjusted for non-recurring factors for the quarter ended September 30, 1999 decreased to $1.04 per share from $1.06 per share for the same quarter a year ago. Earnings from U.S. Electric operations were lower due primarily to increased operations and maintenance expenses from higher tree trimming expenses. Earnings also decreased due to lower non-fuel revenue due primarily to milder weather than in the same period last year partially offset by increased customer usage and growth and increased transmission revenues.

U.K. Electric operations were $0.02 per share below the corresponding period last year. The decline in earnings is due primarily to increased expenses from operating in the competitive electricity market in the United Kingdom. Diversified Electric operations were $0.04 above last year due primarily to earnings contributions from several CSW Energy plants.

See the table below for factors that affected earnings for the quarter ended September 30, 1999.

Nine Months Earnings
Earnings adjusted for non-recurring factors for the nine months ended September 30, 1999 decreased to $1.74 per share from $1.84 per share for the same period a year ago. Earnings from U.S. Electric operations were lower due primarily to increased O&M from higher tree trimming expenses and plant maintenance costs. The decrease in earnings was offset in part by higher non-fuel revenues. The increase in non-fuel revenues was due primarily to increased customer usage and growth and increased transmission revenues, offset in part by milder weather than in the same period last year.

U.K. Electric operations were $0.06 per share below the corresponding period last year. The decline in earnings is due primarily to increased expenses from operating in the competitive electricity market in the United Kingdom and to the absence of the recovery in the first quarter of 1998 of regulatory allowed revenues undercharged in previous years. Diversified Electric operations were $0.06 above last year due primarily to earnings contributions from several CSW Energy plants and CSW International’s Latin American investments.

See the table below for factors that affected earnings for the nine months ended September 30, 1999.

Twelve Months Earnings
Earnings adjusted for non-recurring factors for the twelve months ended September 30, 1999 decreased to $2.05 per share from $2.19 per share for the corresponding period last year. Earnings from U.S. Electric operations were lower due primarily to higher O&M that decreased earnings $0.28 per share. Contributing to the increase in O&M was the absence in the twelve months ended September 30, 1999 of rate case adjustments for CPL and PSO which reduced O&M in the same period last year. Also contributing to the increase in O&M was higher tree trimming expenses and plant maintenance costs. The decrease in earnings was offset in part by higher non-fuel revenues. The increase in non-fuel revenues was due primarily to increased customer usage and growth and increased transmission revenues, offset in part by milder weather than in the same period last year.

U.K. Electric operations were $0.14 per share below the corresponding period last year. The decline in earnings is due primarily to increased expenses from operating in the competitive electricity market in the United Kingdom and to the absence of the recovery in the first quarter of 1998 of regulatory allowed revenues undercharged in previous years. Earnings for Diversified Electric operations were $0.10 above the same period last year due primarily to earnings contributions from several CSW Energy plants and CSW International’s Latin American investments. Earnings for Other Diversified operations were $0.06 above the corresponding period last year due primarily to the absence in the twelve months ended September 30, 1999 of tax adjustments, which increased taxes in the same period last year.

See the table below for factors that affected earnings for the twelve months ended September 30, 1999.

KWH Sales
Retail kilowatt-hour sales for U.S. Electric operations decreased 3.0% for the three months ended September 30, 1999 compared with the same quarter last year due primarily to milder weather. Retail KWH sales decreased 0.5% for the nine months ended September 30, 1999 from the corresponding period last year due primarily to milder weather offset in part by increased customer usage and growth. However, retail KWH sales increased 0.2% for the twelve months ended September 30, 1999 from the corresponding period last year due primarily to increased customer usage and growth offset in part by milder weather.

Earnings Variance Table
The following table is a summary of CSW's major earnings variances, net of tax, from 1998 to 1999 for the periods ending September 30, 1999:

 

CSW's business segments referred to in this Earnings News Release are defined below.
U.S. Electric	U.K. Electric	Energy Services
Central Power and Light Company	SEEBOARD U.S.A.	C3 Communications, Inc.
Public Service Company of Oklahoma		EnerShop Inc.
Southwestern Electric Power Company	Other Diversified	CSW Energy Services, Inc.
West Texas Utilities Company	CSW Credit, Inc.	CSW Power Marketing, Inc.
	CSW Leasing, Inc.	Business Ventures
Diversified Electric	Corporate and Other
CSW Energy, Inc.
CSW International, Inc.
(excludes SEEBOARD U.S.A.)

 Central and South West Corporation is a Dallas-based public utility holding company that owns four U.S. electric utility subsidiaries with 1.7 million customers, a regional electricity company serving 2 million customers in the United Kingdom and nonutility subsidiaries involved in energy-related investments, as well as subsidiaries that offer telecommunications, energy efficiency and financial transactions. On December 22, 1997, Central and South West announced a definitive merger agreement for a tax-free, stock-for-stock transaction with American Electric Power Company, Inc.