Indiana Michigan Power submits its Michigan Plan to Public Service Commission

Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) submitted plans Monday to the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) to enhance its infrastructure at Cook Nuclear Plant and make other investments across southwest Michigan.

“Cook Nuclear Plant is vital to I&M’s generation system and is a major driver of the southwest Michigan economy – largely because of well-planned, cost-effective investments and thorough, efficient maintenance and operations,” Toby Thomas, president and chief operating officer of I&M, said.

I&M’s Michigan Plan calls for $478 million in infrastructure improvements over 2019-2020 at Cook Nuclear Plant. It also includes the first two years of I&M’s five-year Distribution Reliability Plan. Over 2019 and 2020, the company plans to replace more than 1,200 poles, 40 miles of wires and other equipment. The plan also includes investments to modernize and strengthen the grid using advanced equipment.

“In addition to supporting Cook Plant, I&M’s Michigan Plan will boost our reliability infrastructure by pro-actively updating poles and wires while adding more high-tech equipment to power lines, substations, and homes,” Thomas said. “I&M’s Michigan Plan takes another big step toward better serving our customers and meeting their energy needs.”

I&M requested that the MPSC review its base rates to support the plan. The overall increase would be approximately $58.5 million, or 18.91 percent. The monthly increase for a typical residential customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt hours of energy per month would be $36. The new monthly amount includes a residential service charge of $10 to update the costs associated with providing meter reading, billing and collection, and other customer-related services.