INDIANA MICHIGAN POWER
Michiana Solar Power Plants Progressing

Indiana Michigan Power's construction of three solar power plants is progressing, and I&M is on schedule for all three to be generating energy by the end of the year.

Construction began in earnest Thursday at the Watervliet, Mich., plant, as contractors began driving posts for the racks that hold the solar panels at the site just east of the city.

Post installation has been completed at the Olive Solar Power Plant off U.S. 20 east of New Carlisle.  I&M, an operating unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), invited Michiana area media to the Olive site Thursday to view the construction, as solar panels continue to be placed and installation of electrical equipment nears.

Hardware construction at the Twin Branch Solar Power Plant outside of Mishawaka is nearing completion, and testing is scheduled to begin in July. The Twin Branch plant is expected to begin generating energy later this summer, followed by Olive and Watervliet.

"I&M is excited to see these solar power plants grow from fields near South Bend and in Michigan," said Paul Chodak III, President and Chief Operating Officer of I&M. "Along with I&M's Cook Nuclear Plant, wind and hydro-electric plants, these three solar power plants will add to the 60 percent carbon-free energy I&M customers use today."

By the end of 2016, when the three plants generate energy for customers, I&M will have a total of four solar power plants with a combined capacity of nearly 15 megawatts, generating enough energy to power 2,000 homes annually.

Indiana customers can demonstrate their support for solar energy by participating in IM Solar, a program that allows participants to attribute part or all of their electricity consumption to solar. Customers can subscribe to retire Renewable Energy Certificate blocks at $2.21 per month. One 50 kilowatt block is equivalent to about 5 percent of a typical home's electric use. To learn more about IM Solar or to sign up, go to www.IndianaMichiganPower.com/Solar.

Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) is headquartered in Fort Wayne, and its 2,450 employees serve more than 589,000 customers. It operates 2,600 MW of coal-fired generation in Indiana, 2,160 MW of nuclear generation in Michigan and 22 MW of hydro generation in both states. The company's generation portfolio also includes 450 MW of purchased wind generation and, by the end of 2016, approximately 15 MW of large-scale solar generation.

American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to nearly 5.4 million customers through 223,000 miles of distribution lines in 11 states. AEP owns the nation's largest electricity transmission system, a more than 40,000-mile network that includes more 765-kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEP also ranks among the nation's largest generators of electricity, owning approximately 32,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. 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.

Click here to read the full press release.