Planned Maintenance Outage Will Take Indiana Michigan Power’s Cook Plant Unit 1 Off-Line Beginning March 12

BRIDGMAN, Mich., March 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Indiana Michigan Power’s Cook
Nuclear Plant Unit 1 will power down late today in preparation for a planned
maintenance outage that will take the unit off-line beginning early March 12.
The primary purpose of the outage is to repair the main generator hydrogen seal
system.

Although a mid-cycle shutdown to make the repair was not required, taking the
unit off-line supports AEP’s conservative approach to maintaining safety and
reliability at Cook Plant. The unit will be at zero percent power while the
hydrogen seal system work is in progress, however the reactor will remain at
full temperature and pressure, ready to return to full power as soon as the
repairs are complete.

“We have taken the time up front to develop an outage plan that puts safety
first, and maximizes opportunities for repairs and maintenance while minimizing
the amount of time the unit will be off-line,” said Joel Gebbie, Cook Nuclear
Plant Site Vice President.

At full capacity, the 1,030-net MW Unit 1 and 1,077-net MW Unit 2 combined
produce enough electricity for more than one and one half million average homes.

Indiana Michigan Power is a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP).
American Electric Power is 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 MW 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.

SOURCE American Electric Power