Today, Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) presented the Allen County Board of Commissioners a check worth nearly $55,000 for participating in a building optimization project at the Edwin J. Rousseau Centre. The project will reduce the building's future energy usage by 2.4 million kilowatt hours per year.

“We are happy to support Allen County in reducing energy usage through our incentive programs,” said Paul Chodak, Indiana Michigan Power’s President and Chief Operating Officer.

The building optimization project, which included installing control dampers and CO² censors in the 217,000 sq.ft. building, will help reduce energy usage by regulating the building’s airflow and air temperature. The project qualified under the Retro-Commissioning Lite Program, one of I&M’s energy efficiency programs for commercial and industrial customers.

“This is a double-win for our citizens and taxpayers.  Thanks to the incentive from I&M, we were basically able to complete the total project without using any county funds.  In addition we will be saving $117,000 in operational costs”, said Commissioner Therese Brown, president of the Allen County Board of Commissioners.

Incentives are available for this and other qualifying energy efficiency upgrades to I&M’s Indiana business customers. Through the program, customers work with program-approved service providers who help identify system improvements and efficiency measures. Energy saving incentives are available to help offset the cost of implementation of the new efficiency measures. A few of the benefits of participation include – improved tenant comfort, enhanced building performance, and extended life expectancy of equipment.

For more information about how your business can participate in the Commercial and Industrial Energy Efficiency program or about becoming a service provider, visit www.ElectricIdeas.com or call 1-888-444-9085.

                                                                                                                     ###

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.