If you happen to see utility trucks rolling slowly through the neighborhood identifying themselves professionally as Indiana Michigan Power Contractors, they are simply working to assure the reliability and safety of Indiana Michigan Power Company equipment and services.
The utility reports today they are conducting inspections of overhead and ground-level equipment in areas throughout the service territory in both states to help ensure the reliability and safety of equipment already installed and in service.
I&M, a unit of American Electric Power, has contracted with Osmose Utility Services to visually examine wires and other overhead equipment. Osmose employees will also inspect ground-level equipment located in green boxes mounted on pads in areas where wires are underground.
Company officials tell us that crews will drive trucks labeled Osmose, plus have a magnet identifying the truck as “Indiana Michigan Power Contractor.” Representatives wear hard hats and shirts with Osmose labels. The visual inspections are done on foot and from slow-moving vehicles driving with flashers on. The inspections – as well as ongoing pole inspections conducted by GeoForce – are part of I&M’s preventative maintenance program. Customers who have questions regarding this work can contact I&M at 800-311-4634.
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.
