FORT WAYNE, Ind., August 2, 2013 – Indiana Michigan Power (I&M), an operating unit of American Electric Power, will begin trimming trees around transmission power lines in St. Joseph, Cass, Van Buren, Kalamazoo, and Berrien counties on August 5 in Michigan.  This work is part of the company’s ongoing vegetation management program aimed at improving the safety and reliability of electrical facilities.

The work will continue through the end of August, Monday through Saturday from daybreak to sundown, weather permitting.  I&M has employed Aerial Solutions, Inc. to perform the work through the use of a helicopter tree-trimming saw.  The tree-trimming tool is suspended beneath a helicopter by a vertical boom that has multiple motor power saw blades attached.  Aerial side trimming is quick, safe and provides at least a 10-foot clearance of the right-of-way areas.  The helicopter will fly at an average speed of five miles per hour at tree-top heights while working. 

The company’s main priority is to remove overhanging branches that are potential safety hazards or causing service reliability problems to provide at least ten feet of clearance from the line. Customers are strongly urged never to trim or remove trees near or adjacent to power lines.

Trees are an important part of the environment, and I&M is committed to balancing the importance of trees with the equally important need to deliver electricity safely and reliably.  Customers with questions should contact I&M by calling 1-800-311-4634 (Indiana), 1-800-311-6424 (Michigan) or visiting the web at IndianaMichiganPower.com.

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.