Joint news release from the City of Fort Wayne and Indiana Michigan Power:
City Light Lease Settlement Agreement approved by the IURC
Commission order brings closure to Light Lease issues
Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) and the City of Fort Wayne confirmed today that the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission has approved the agreement between I&M and the City to resolve issues surrounding the conclusion of the 35-year-old City Light Lease and the related agreement between I&M and the Office of the Utility Consumer Counselor (OUCC).
“I&M is pleased that the IURC order confirms that the agreement is in the public interest,” noted Paul Chodak III, president and chief operating officer for Indiana Michigan Power. “It is important to the community and all of I&M’s customers that we put the issues surrounding the Lease behind us and that is why we agreed to absorb a significant portion of the costs of the agreement. We share the City’s goal of making Fort Wayne a better place to live and work. We are enthusiastic about moving forward as we serve our customers in Fort Wayne.”
“This is a great day for the people of Fort Wayne. With an agreement crafted to strengthen our community and foster economic growth, we are now uniquely positioned to make Fort Wayne a first-choice location for job creation and business investment,” said Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry. “Our mutual commitment to the best interests of the public has guided the City and I&M to this positive resolution. I am most appreciative to I&M for stepping forward at the Commission to achieve an outcome that is fair to all concerned.”
Commission approval of the agreements puts an end to the dispute between the two parties and confirms again that I&M is the exclusive electric service provider in Fort Wayne. Under terms of the agreement, I&M will pay the City a total of $39.2 million over 15 years, with $5 million of that coming as an upfront payment. The Commission’s approval also clears the way for the City to access the nearly $38 million in the City Light Trust Fund.
The terms of the agreement are retroactive to February 2010 when the City Light Lease expired. I&M has been making payments under the agreement to the City subject to the Commission’s review and payments will continue to February 2025. The City will transfer ownership of certain equipment and facilites being used by I&M to serve customers, but service to I&M’s customers will not change and rates will remain the same until future rate cases.
The agreement was subject to the approval of both the Commission and the Fort Wayne Common Council, which unanimously approved the agreement on November 23, 2010. The OUCC had expressed concerns over the effect the certain payments by I&M would have on customers. I&M worked directly with OUCC staff and agreed to absorb $4.1 million of the costs in order to alleviate the OUCC’s concerns.
I&M and the City will work together over the next few months to finalize the documents required to close the transactions authorized by the agreement.
Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) is headquartered in Fort Wayne, and serves more than 582,000 customers in Michigan and Indiana. It operates 3,595 MW of coal-fired generation in Indiana, 2,110 MW of nuclear generation in Michigan and 22 MW of hydro generation in both states. The company also provides its customers 150 MW of purchased wind generation.
I&M is a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), which 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 more than 38,000 megawatts 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.
Additional information about I&M is available at IndianaMichiganPower.com
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