ELKHART, Ind. – Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) will start the annual drawdown of the St. Joseph River, upstream of the Elkhart Hydroelectric Generating Station, on Monday, December 16.

The water level will be lowered two feet (about six inches per day) over a four day period to help reduce ice buildup upstream of the dam.

Residents who live along the St. Joseph River within eight miles upstream of the Elkhart generating station may wish to make note of this in case there is any work they would like to perform along the river bank while the reservoir is at the lower elevation.

The water level will be returned to its normal operating level of 741.5 feet above sea level in early spring. The drawdown is conducted in accordance with the operating license issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for this facility.

The Elkhart hydroelectric facility is one of six run-of-river hydroelectric plants on the St. Joseph River owned and operated by I&M. The facility has a capacity of 3.44 megawatts, the equivalent of serving about 3,500 homes.

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Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) is headquartered in Fort Wayne, and its 2,370 employees serve more than 597,000 customers. More than half of its generation is emission-free, including 2,278 MW of nuclear generation in Michigan, 450 MW of purchased wind generation from Indiana, 22 MW of hydro generation in both states and approximately 15 MW of large-scale solar generation in both states. The company’s generation portfolio also includes 2,600 MW of coal-fueled generation in Indiana.

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 more than 17,000 employees operate and maintain the nation’s largest electricity transmission system and more than 219,000 miles of distribution lines to efficiently deliver safe, reliable power to nearly 5.4 million regulated customers in 11 states. AEP also is one of the nation’s largest electricity producers with approximately 32,000 megawatts of diverse generating capacity, including 4,300 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 and east Texas). AEP also owns AEP Energy, AEP Energy Partners, AEP OnSite Partners and AEP Renewables, which provide innovative competitive energy solutions nationwide.