FORT WAYNE, Ind., March 12, 2013 – Indiana Michigan Power (I&M), an operating unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), will begin raising the water level upstream of the Elkhart Hydroelectric Generating Station on Monday, March 18, 2013. 

The reservoir was lowered two feet last December to preclude ice buildup at the County Road 17 Bridge during the winter.  The reservoir will be raised slowly over a three to four day period.

Residents who live along the St. Joseph River within eight miles upstream of the Elkhart generating station may wish to make note of this in case there is any work they would like to finish along the river bank before the level rises two feet.

The Elkhart hydroelectric facility is one of six run-of-river hydroelectric plants on the St. Joseph River owned and operated by I&M.  The facility generates 3.44 megawatts of electricity; the equivalent of serving about 3,500 homes.  I&M operates the Elkhart Hydroelectric Generating Station in accordance with its license issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

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Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) is headquartered in Fort Wayne, and its 2,500 employees serve more than 582,000 customers. It operates 3,595 MW of coal-fired generation in Indiana, 2,110 MW of nuclear generation in Michigan and 22 MW of hydro generation in both states.  The company also provides its customers 250 MW of purchased wind generation.

I&M is a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation’s largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 39,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765-kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEP’s transmission system directly or indirectly serves about 10 percent of the electricity demand in the Eastern Interconnection, the interconnected transmission system that covers 38 eastern and central U.S. states and eastern Canada, and approximately 11 percent of the electricity demand in ERCOT, the transmission system that covers much of Texas. AEP’s utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas). AEP’s headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio.