FORT WAYNE, Ind., – Many people enjoy celebrating the season with holiday decorations. As you "deck the halls," Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) is Powering the Next Level of Safety to keep your holidays a joyous time with these electrical safety reminders.

Lighting Safety 

• Inspect, discard and replace damaged sockets, loose connections and frayed or bare wires before starting to decorate.
• Unplug lights when changing bulbs. Don’t connect lights while adjusting them on a tree or your home.
• Don’t let bulbs touch flammable material, including needles, branches and other decorations.
• Check for overheard powerlines before using a ladder outside while hanging lights.
• Turn off all holiday lights and decorations when you leave your house or go to bed.

Electrical Cord Safety

• Avoid overloading electrical outlets with too many decorations or electrical devices. They can overheat and cause a fire.
• Never use staples and nails to secure lights or decorations as they can damage electrical cords.
• Never use more than three standard-sized sets of lights per extension cord. Also make sure you use outdoor and indoor specific light strands/extension cords accordingly.
• Plug exterior lights into ground-fault interruptible (GFI) outlets only. If your home lacks outside GFI outlets, call an electrician to install them.
• Before decorating, determine how many outlets are available and where they are located. Plan your displays accordingly to avoid tripping over cords.

There are also ways you can make the holidays glow and not your energy bill. You can decorate your home with LED lights as they use 90% less energy than traditional bulbs. For more ways to decorate your home efficiently, visit Electricideas.com.

I&M hopes all of our customers and communities we proudly serve have a happy and safe holiday season.

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Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) is headquartered in Fort Wayne, and its approximately 2,000 employees serve more than 600,000 customers. More than 80% of its energy delivered in 2022 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 and approximately 35 MW of large-scale solar generation in both states. The company’s generation portfolio also includes 1,497 MW of coal-fueled generation.

At American Electric Power, based in Columbus, Ohio, we understand that our customers and communities depend on safe, reliable and affordable power. Our nearly 17,000 employees operate and maintain more than 40,000 miles of transmission lines, the nation's largest electric transmission system, and more than 225,000 miles of distribution lines to deliver power to 5.6 million customers in 11 states. AEP also is one of the nation's largest electricity producers with nearly 29,000 megawatts of diverse generating capacity, including approximately 6,100 megawatts of renewable energy. AEP is investing $43 billion over the next five years to make the electric grid cleaner and more reliable. We are on track to reach an 80% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from 2005 levels by 2030 and have a goal to achieve net zero by 2045. AEP is recognized consistently for its focus on sustainability, community engagement and inclusion. 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, which provides innovative competitive energy solutions nationwide. For more information, visit aep.com.