BRIDGMAN, Mich., December 14, 2012 – Indiana Michigan Power has named current Plant Manager Q. Shane Lies as Vice President Support Services at the Cook Nuclear Plant. Replacing Lies as Plant Manager will be current Assistant Plant Manager, Samuel Partin. Lies reports to Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer Larry Weber, and Partin reports to Site Vice President Joel Gebbie.

“We are fortunate to have two outstanding internal candidates like Shane and Sam to step into these important leadership roles at Cook,” said Weber. “Both have a strong and long history at Cook, as well as considerable experiences throughout the nuclear industry to provide the needed perspective to maintain Cook’s position as one of our nation’s leading plants.”

Lies attended Kansas State University and graduated with a bachelor's degree in nuclear engineering in 1994, a master's degree in mechanical engineering in 1996 and is a licensed engineer in the state of Michigan. He began work at Cook in 1996 as a System Engineer. In 2000, he obtained his Senior Reactor Operator's license. He held management positions in Operations and Engineering before being named Plant Manager in 2010. Lies currently resides in Stevensville, Michigan with his wife, Angie and children Mikaela, Andrew, Kaeden and Paige.

Partin was in the U.S. Navy for six years and received a bachelor’s degree from Sienna Heights University in nuclear technology in 2004. He began work at Cook in 1983 as a Utility Operator and held positions in Operations as a Senior Reactor Operator, Shift Manager and Site Senior License Holder. He also held management positions in Emergency Planning, Outage Management, Maintenance and Work Control at Cook. From 2010 to 2012 he was a loaned employee to the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations in Atlanta where he participated in plant evaluations and assist visits at plants throughout the country. Partin and his wife Kathleen live in Stevensville and have three grown children.

Indiana Michigan Power is a unit of American Electric Power [AEP:NYSE]. American Electric Power 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 nearly 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. 

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