SOUTH BEND, Ind., – Same city, same community dedication, just in a new location. Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) is “Powering the Next Opportunity” as it announces plans to construct a 115,000 square foot building in South Bend that will house a service center, office building, storage facility and service garage. The new facility will be located near Adams Road and U.S. 31. Construction is expected to begin in December 2021.
The announcement comes just hours after the South Bend Common Council gave a green light to I&M’s rezoning petition last night, Nov. 8, approving construction and development of the new I&M facility.
“Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) is excited and thankful for the South Bend Common Council’s support to expand and move into the northwest part of South Bend as it experiences economic development and residential growth,” said Dave Isaacson, vice president of Distribution Region Operations for I&M. “The location will enable our employees and crews to respond faster and better serve our customers and businesses across the South Bend area safely and efficiently for decades to come.”
The new service center will employ more than 100 essential I&M employees, such as customer service representatives, line workers, meter operations and other staff. Also on the 29-acre site will be a storage facility for I&M bucket trucks, poles and other electrical equipment.
I&M selected the new location, at Adams Road near U.S. 31, to replace the current service center located on Lathrop Street and Bendix Avenue for better highway access, an improved environmental profile, and it will be adjacent to a new I&M substation. At the new location, I&M crews will be able to respond faster to customer outages and concerns given direct access to U.S. 31 and surrounding key roadways.
I&M is dedicated to delivering safe, clean, reliable electricity to our customers and communities while conserving energy and protecting the environment. The new service center will be LEED-certified, meaning the building is built to be environmentally friendly and energy efficient. I&M designed the facility to minimize the impact on surrounding neighborhoods and the environment, including light pollution prevention strategies and on-site water management.
I&M expects to host a ground breaking ceremony in December as construction starts. Depending on weather and materials, construction is expected to finish by spring of 2023.
# # #
ABOUT INDIANA MICHIGAN POWER: Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) is headquartered in Fort Wayne, and its approximately 2,100 employees serve more than 600,000 customers. More than 85% of its energy delivered in 2020 was emission-free. I&M has at its availability various sources of generation including 2,278 MW of nuclear generation in Michigan, 450 MW of purchased wind generation from Indiana, more than 22 MW of hydro generation in both states, nearly 35 MW of large-scale solar generation in both states, and 2,620 MW of coal-fueled generation in Indiana.
ABOUT AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER: American Electric Power, based in Columbus, Ohio, is focused on building a smarter energy infrastructure and delivering new technologies and custom energy solutions to our customers. AEP’s approximately 16,800 employees operate and maintain the nation’s largest electricity transmission system and more than 223,000 miles of distribution lines to efficiently deliver safe, reliable power to nearly 5.5 million regulated customers in 11 states. AEP also is one of the nation’s largest electricity producers with approximately 30,000 megawatts of diverse generating capacity, including more than 5,500 megawatts of renewable energy. AEP’s family of companies includes utilities 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, east Texas and the Texas Panhandle). AEP also owns AEP Energy, AEP Energy Partners, AEP OnSite Partners, and AEP Renewables, which provide innovative competitive energy solutions nationwide. For more information, visit aep.com.