FORT WAYNE, Ind., Sept. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Approximately
10,000 South Bend, Ind. area customers of Indiana Michigan Power (I&M), a
utility unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), will soon participate
in a demonstration of new technologies designed to promote service
reliability and help customers manage usage and save money.
Through a collaborative effort with the Indiana Utility Regulatory
Commission (IURC) and the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor
(OUCC), I&M will test the use of advanced metering and energy efficiency
technologies in homes and businesses located west and northeast of downtown
South Bend by the end of the year. The project will be the first deployment
of "smart grid" technologies that AEP could implement in model cities
across the company's 11- state service territory.
The pilot is also part of an AEP initiative with General Electric
(NYSE: GE) announced last October. AEP and GE Energy, a business unit of
General Electric, will pursue the development, integration and deployment
of advanced energy delivery infrastructure and metering technologies.
"These new technologies offer exciting potential and will benefit both
our customers and our company," said Michael G. Morris, AEP's chairman,
president and chief executive officer. "This pilot, and the deployments to
follow, will provide customers with the tools to make wise energy
decisions, giving them more control over how they use electricity and,
ultimately, more control over their monthly bill. For AEP, the potential to
reduce peak demand for electricity by helping customers understand the
difference in value of our product at different times of day can delay or
avoid the future need for expensive new generation."
"I&M is very pleased that the IURC and the OUCC are closely involved
with this project," said Helen J. Murray, I&M president and chief operating
officer. "We appreciate the foresight of these organizations as we explore
how this technology will enable utilities, like I&M, to provide the tools
that can help the residents of Indiana save energy, manage costs and
conserve natural resources."
Customers in the South Bend pilot project area will have their homes
and businesses equipped with GE smart meters, which are digital meters
connected to a two-way radio frequency communications network. Because the
meter is in constant communication, a utility company can provide timely
information back to the customer that he or she can use to modify
consumption behavior. The information also empowers customers to make
environmentally friendly decisions when using electricity. Service
interruptions can be detected more quickly and restoration activities will
be faster and more efficient because smart meters provide continuous grid
status to the utility operators.
Smart meter technology will enable pilot project participants to
voluntarily enroll in enhanced customer service programs such as:
-- Time-of-use prices, where the cost of electricity is lower during
off-peak periods and higher during times of peak use.
-- Direct load control, a feature that allows automatic adjustments to
central air conditioning units during periods of peak demand during
summer months in exchange for price incentives on electric rates
-- The ability to pre-pay for electricity service.
The project will include the first use of General Electric's ENMAC
system in the United States. ENMAC is a fully integrated, advanced network
management system that automates the real-time management, monitoring and
control of electrical distribution networks. Distribution automation is
expected to lead to faster service restoration following outages and to
improved power quality.
I&M will begin installing smart meters and other technologies in South
Bend in October, with installations to be completed by the end of 2008. All
systems will be in use by the second quarter of 2009 and will be evaluated
for one year. The company will also work with homebuilders to install
advanced energy controls in 50 new homes.
"First and foremost, we want to know how well these technologies work
and how our customers use the additional capabilities to control their
energy use," Morris said. "But we also want to see how much interest there
is in offerings like pre-paid accounts and direct load control, how much
customer education is needed for the in-home displays associated with the
pre-pay option, and how the distribution automation improves our ability to
serve our customers.
"What we learn in the South Bend pilot will position us to better match
our future programs and technology enhancements with the needs and
interests of our customers," Morris said.
I&M is collaborating with the OUCC for the South Bend pilot under an
agreement reached last year. I&M and the OUCC worked collaboratively to
define the scope of the program, select the technology, develop programs,
design experimental tariffs, and will work together to measure the results.
I&M is headquartered in Fort Wayne, Ind. Its 2,600 employees serve more
than 580,000 customers in northeast, east-central and northwest Indiana and
southwest Michigan. It operates 3,595 MW of coal-fired generation in
Indiana, 2,160 MW of nuclear generation in Michigan, and 22 MW of hydro
generation in both states.
I&M is an operating company of American Electric Power, 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 38,000 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 Electric Reliability Council of Texas
(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.
News releases and other information about I&M can be found on the World
Wide Web at http://www.IndianaMichiganPower.com
This report made by American Electric Power and its Registrant
Subsidiaries contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Although the
registrants believe that their expectations are based on reasonable
assumptions, any such statements may be influenced by factors that could
cause actual outcomes and results to be materially different from those
projected. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those in the forward-looking statements are: electric load
and customer growth; weather conditions, including storms; available
sources and costs of, and transportation for, fuels and the
creditworthiness and performance of fuel suppliers and transporters;
availability of generating capacity and the performance of AEP's generating
plants; AEP's ability to recover regulatory assets and stranded costs in
connection with deregulation; AEP's ability to recover increases in fuel
and other energy costs through regulated or competitive electric rates;
AEP's ability to build or acquire generating capacity (including the
company's ability to obtain any necessary regulatory approvals and permits)
when needed at acceptable prices and terms and to recover those costs
through applicable rate cases or competitive rates; new legislation,
litigation and government regulation including requirements for reduced
emissions of sulfur, nitrogen, mercury, carbon, soot or particulate matter
and other substances; timing and resolution of pending and future rate
cases, negotiations and other regulatory decisions (including rate or other
recovery of new investments in generation, distribution and transmission
service and environmental compliance); resolution of litigation (including
disputes arising from the bankruptcy of Enron Corp. and related matters);
AEP's ability to constrain operation and maintenance costs; the economic
climate and growth in AEP's service territory and changes in market demand
and demographic patterns; inflationary and interest rate trends; volatility
in the financial markets, particularly developments affecting the
availability of capital on reasonable terms and developments impairing
AEP's ability to refinance existing debt at attractive rates; AEP's ability
to develop and execute a strategy based on a view regarding prices of
electricity, natural gas and other energy-related commodities; changes in
the creditworthiness of the counterparties with whom AEP has contractual
arrangements, including participants in the energy trading market; actions
of rating agencies, including changes in the ratings of debt; volatility
and changes in markets for electricity, natural gas, coal, nuclear fuel and
other energy-related commodities; changes in utility regulation, including
the potential for new legislation in Ohio and the allocation of costs
within regional transmission organizations; accounting pronouncements
periodically issued by accounting standard-setting bodies; the impact of
volatility in the capital markets on the value of the investments held by
AEP's pension, other postretirement benefit plans and nuclear
decommissioning trust; prices for power that AEP generates and sells at
wholesale; changes in technology, particularly with respect to new,
developing or alternative sources of generation; other risks and unforeseen
events, including wars, the effects of terrorism (including increased
security costs), embargoes and other catastrophic events.
SOURCE American Electric Power
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Related links:
http://www.aep.com
http://www.IndianaMichiganPower.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/042050.html /
CONTACT:
David Mayne of Indiana Michigan Power
Corporate Communications, +1-574-236-4965
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