Inside the Region
Welcome to Inside the Region, the podcast that explores the forces shaping our local economy.
In each episode, we dive into the conversations driving business growth, investment, and innovation across the region. From major development projects and capital investment to workforce strategies, market trends, and data insights, we unpack what matters most to business and community leaders.
Inside the Region
Todd Lohenry and Jim Cotter from AEP
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“Welcome to Inside the Region, the podcast from the South Bend Regional Chamber where we explore the ideas, partnerships, and investments shaping the future of our region. I’m your host, and today we’re joined by two leaders from American Electric Power — Todd Lohenry and Jim Cotter.
As communities across the country focus on economic growth, infrastructure, energy reliability, and long-term sustainability, AEP is playing a critical role in helping regions prepare for the future. Today, we’ll talk about the evolving energy landscape, what it means for businesses and communities here in Northern Indiana, and how collaboration between utilities, industry, and regional leaders can drive opportunity across the South Bend-Elkhart region.
Welcome to Inside the Region, the podcast that explores the forces shaping our local economy. Being brought to you by Old National Bank, where relationships and results matter. Discover what Old National Bank can do for you at OldNational.com. In each episode, we dive into the conversations driving business growth, investment, and innovation across the region. From major development projects and capital investments to workforce strategies, market trends, and data insights, we unpack what matters most to business and community leaders. Now here's your host, Director of Economic Development at the South Bend Regional Chamber, Alison Herzing.
SPEAKER_02Hello, today we're talking about an issue that is top of mind for many businesses right now. That's energy. I'm excited to have with me two guests from Indiana, Michigan Power. Todd Low Henry is an account executive who works directly with businesses to help them manage energy costs, support expansion plans, and navigate their electric service. We also are joined by Jim Cotter, program manager for INM's energy efficiency programs. Welcome, gentlemen. Thank you for being here today.
SPEAKER_04Thanks for having us on the show. Thank you very much.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so I always like to kind of level set and see um just kind of learn a little bit more about our guests. Todd, can you tell us about your job and how you became part of the INM uh uh um group of employees here? I know you've been there a few years now, so what what are you doing?
SPEAKER_04Absolutely. Well, I've been I'm going on my third year now. Uh August will be uh the beginning of my fourth year at INM. I actually came out of the energy efficiency space. I've worked for seven program years now uh in the energy efficiency space, first with consumers energy in Michigan, and then with Indiana Michigan Power in Michigan. And because of the success I had in that role, I was asked to join INM as a key account manager.
SPEAKER_02So you've been doing this for three years going on for feels probably only like a week, though, because it just flies by.
SPEAKER_04Well, I'd have to say it it really has been only in the past year and a half or so where I feel as if I've made a great deal of progress in understanding what's important to our customers and how to deliver value around the energy bill.
SPEAKER_02So very important. We're gonna talk all about that. Jim, how did you come to uh your role with IM?
SPEAKER_00I've been with IM now for eight months, so it hasn't been that long. Uh before that, I was with Fort Wayne Community Schools and was the energy um coordination manager to make sure that we had to maintain our low costs and participated in a lot of IM's energy efficiency incentive programs. Um so it's been an excellent opportunity, and I've just enjoyed embracing the role.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's great. So you've had the other side of the equation. Now you're on the other side of the table. So you bring a really good perspective for companies to you're you've been there, you've walked the path, you understand, and so now you're able to really kind of guide them through the process.
SPEAKER_00Yes, and and I find that that's been uh a big benefit moving forward in working with each of the companies as well as our implementation vendor to make sure that we provide uh a good benefit to our customers.
SPEAKER_02Well, welcome and thank you both again for being here. So just kind of want to jump in. So AEP's had some leadership changes in the last year. What's going on? We have a new CEO. Things seem to be doing really well. I've looking at that stock price, it is up.
SPEAKER_04Very definitely. Uh Bill Furman joined us from the Berkshire Hathaway family of companies about a year and a half ago. And since that point in time, um, our stock price has gone up about 47%, which is uh a great benefit to the customers. When you think about it, uh running utility is maybe one of the most difficult things that you can do in that we're publicly regulated and also publicly traded. So it's uh always a balancing act. But having someone come in from the outside who really understands that space and lead us into more of a customer-centric kind of utility has been a great thing for the company and for customers.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, let's stay on that customer side because I know customer service is so important in all businesses these days. It's really can be a major differentiator. Let's talk a little bit about that. You know, AEP, um, IM, I should say, I should back up and say Indiana Michigan Power is an organization within the AEP power infrastructure, the um company umbrella. So um as I go back and forth with these acronyms, AEP, I and M, make sure everyone's on the same page. Um, so high marks on uh customer service, you guys just came out um really doing quite well. Uh one would say top of the line for um power utilities.
SPEAKER_04I think we're doing pretty well, especially as compared to some of the other utilities in um in the state of Indiana. Um we're holding the line on costs and uh customer satisfaction, as you said, is is quite high.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So um, and and it's so important to track those numbers because um, you know, from there you really kind of learn about what's important to your customers and how to lean into making those fixes. So good to see that that's happening um on an ongoing basis. And then um kind of want to talk a little bit about some of those things that you know customers want to, you know, are really kind of don't appreciate power until maybe it's not there. Reliability. Um, all of us have been there one time, you get to go pull in your driveway and the garage door doesn't open. And maybe it's uh Christmas Day or something as um, you know, and and and what do you do? So uh reliability is something you take for granted until it's not there. I know AEP and I and M are really doing um great in this uh this arena. Can you speak a little bit more about that?
SPEAKER_04Well, it's funny that you mention uh Christmas Day in particular because I actually got a call from a customer on Christmas morning.
SPEAKER_02And uh He's always there, folks. I'll I'll give you his phone number when we're done, just in the end, so you can give him a phone call yourself.
SPEAKER_04No, but overall, I mean, if you think back to I think it was about um a little over three years ago, um, where the day before Christmas Eve, there was a massive outage, right? And it was all hands on deck trying to fix things uh in time for Christmas. But one of the things that surprises me because I wake up every morning and the first page that I see on my browser is the outages across the area. And every morning I'm so grateful when I wake up and see that the number is zero. But we've been through some pretty major storms. Think about Fern recently.
SPEAKER_02And and that would be the winter storm, not the uh plant.
SPEAKER_04Right. Yes. Right, winter storm fern, and how well we did compared to some of the other companies around us. And that speaks to the resilience that we're building into our network year over year. And that's one of those benefits of that stock price increase and having the resources to be able to continually work on our network.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I know that um around the corner for me, there is a large substation um upgrade. That's great. We like to continuously have our power when we flip the light switch. So I appreciate that very much. Um, I'm gonna kind of pivot over. Uh Jim, so you work on the rebate programs, um, and there's a lot going on there. So a lot of um I I first really underantic I didn't really uh appreciate how much of a savings can be had with these programs. Can you kind of walk us through these? Because there's some substantial dollars available to organizations um as part of the different um programs that I and M and AEP have.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. We have four programs overall. We have a prescriptive program, which is a one-for-one replacement of items during a capital project. We also have a custom program, which we get involved in the design phase and provide incentives based upon how much energy can be saved over a static baseline. Uh, we also have a small business direct install program, which really focuses on the lower consuming uh businesses. Uh we have money set aside specifically for them, a little bit higher incentive rate because we know that as an owner of a small business, you're really limited in your cash availability. And so when you do an improvement, um, you want to reduce that cost as much as possible, and this helps us provide and ease some of that worry uh and constraint in doing some of those projects. And then we have a behavioral-based project, a strategic energy management program where we model throughout the whole year. Um, we take a look at how the business operates and we see where we can find savings, whether in uh operations and timing uh or just general employee behaviors. And through that, we had a very strong year last year in 2025. Um we saved about 77 million kilowatt hours in the I and M space in Indiana. 40% of that came from the South Bend Elkart area. Um, and so we couldn't couldn't be more happy with how the businesses have embraced those programs uh and have been willing to participate in those.
SPEAKER_02Great. Yeah, those are huge numbers. Let you know, I'm I'm kind of just let's just break it down a little bit easier for our listeners. What exactly are we talking about, for example? So when you talk for one for one, what does that mean? Is it, you know, one light bulb for a light bulb? What are we, you know, what it what exactly do these programs mean in in layman's terms, act like I don't know what I'm doing here. Which maybe I don't.
SPEAKER_00So it it's going from a fixture that is has T8 or T12 fluorescent balls bulbs to a fixture that's all LED, uh whether it be two by two or two by four, just a direct exchange will then provide an incentive rebate.
SPEAKER_02So a company is looking, they're they're looking at their shop, they're saying, wow, you know, these these lights are a little old, we need to upgrade these. They fill out some paperwork, they call Tod. How does that work? How does that look?
SPEAKER_00Uh we have an implementation uh vendor that will receive the application. A prescriptive one can be turned in up to 90 days after the project is complete. That can either be self-performed, so if they have maintenance staff that want to want and are able to go in and change those out, um, all we need is the invoice and the application. Or a lot of our programs we utilize trade allies. So local tradesmen um that are in our network can come in, provide the estimate, do the exchange, and then submit the application on the company's behalf.
SPEAKER_02So if somebody doesn't have a tradesperson, they can go online and um or work with their uh account executive um to find out who who is uh you know, who are the 10 organizations that might be able to provide the service in the area and then decide to move forward with that. So um that's really good to know, good helpful information. There's some other stuff I know. There's um we've talked, Todd and I have talked about the engineered nozzles and the find and replace and how much of a difference, um, even just one pinprick on um some of these lines could could really result in savings. Todd, you want to kind of expand on that a little bit?
SPEAKER_04Well, yeah, that's actually the first time that we met uh was in your lobby, and I was at the end of the year looking to as many customers as we could to take advantage of those programs. But um compressed air in particular, it it drives American business, and a lot of companies don't don't realize how expensive it can be if it's not managed accurately. So, one of the um the best solutions that we offer customers is a way for one of these trade allies to go into a company to locate all of these leaks, some of which are so small that they can only be detected with a sonic gun, right? So they'll use the uh the correct tool to assess the situation and repair that. And the last that I uh that I heard, uh, a pinprick, this or a hole, sorry, the size of a pinprick can cost about a thousand dollars a year. And I've personally worked with customers that have had over 150 uh holes that were repaired. So serious savings. Uh, and we make that so accessible that many customers are able to do that audit and analysis at no cost to them, and all they receive is the benefit on their bill.
SPEAKER_02It's like you read my mind. I was just gonna ask, how much does this cost to participate in?
SPEAKER_04Well, we have a couple of different things, like the engineered nozzles and the audit and analysis around compressed air, um, that are offered at no no cost to the customer. And I always like to tell customers about that benefit. One of my mantras when I was in the program was that nothing improves a customer's hearing like money, especially free money.
SPEAKER_01I'm keeping that. I'm gonna take that and I'm keeping it.
SPEAKER_04Because once you once you show customers that uh there is a program that will help them save money, and then thanks to the portal that we have on the back end with our wireless uh meters, our AMI meters that we've upgraded customers to over the past couple of years, they can go and see the benefit 48 hours later. So if they implement a change, they can see that on their account and see those numbers actually reducing off of their bill immediately. So those two things work real closely together where they see the program, they see that it's paying a benefit, they see that it's reducing the bill, and then hopefully they want to do more.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, it's so important. And I I guess I have to ask a question. So, um, you know, your organization and all organizations are, you know, kind of looking at earning money, you're looking at giving money back. I think this is fantastic. Um, you know, so just why is that? You know, why is A I and M and AEP really kind of leaning into helping their customers as much as they are?
SPEAKER_04Well, from my perspective, Allison, it's simply the right thing to do. And so one of the things that I focus on with my customer base, I said that I've worked in this space for seven years, but it's not my first rodeo. I've spent 43 years in account management with major brands like Aetna and Apple Computer, and now AEP. And the biggest thing I focus on in my customer base is what I call price performance or a fair exchange of value. The first time that I sat down to explain a bill to my customer, I was lost looking at the 23 different numbers that that appear on a bill.
SPEAKER_02I knew that Todd was coming in. I got my last um electric bill out and tried to look it over. And I have to agree, there's a lot going on on there. It's not for the general public to try to figure out some of these different things. It can be a little confusing.
SPEAKER_04Well, the first time I explained a bill to a customer, it took me 90 minutes. And then over the course of a year, I realized that there are really only three numbers that matter. Those are the three numbers that you can control. And so when I meet with customers, I explain to them what those three numbers are and the three ways that they can control each one. For example, kilowatt hours, one of the best ways that you can control that is to engage in the energy efficiency program because it will lower your bill from a kilowatt hour perspective. But then there are also things like kilowatts and uh demand. And the kilowatts, you can actually, uh, especially on the with the larger customers that I deal with, um, they have the ability to shift up to 60% of their demand into off-peak. And those off-peak kilowatt hours are at no cost to them, right? So it's literally a way to get free energy from the utility by shifting demand into times when uh it's not needed as much.
SPEAKER_02So in the in the layman term, is this like I decide to do my laundry at 1 a.m. instead of at, you know, say 8 a.m. when everyone's turning their, you know, washer and dryers and all their other stuff on? Is it is it that simple? Obviously, we're talking bigger than um a washer machine. But it but it's small changes like this. It's it's changing the time you do certain things.
SPEAKER_04It's exactly like that. So I I have a customer that I love to talk about. Uh they're over in Elkart. And um, when I met with them the first time, I said, looking at your bill, it looks like you operate 24, 7 or 6 or 5, right? So which one is it? And they said, well, we operate 24, 5.5. So, great. So tell me then, when do you start your machines on Monday morning? They said, seven o'clock. I said, Do you have anyone that could come in a half hour or an hour earlier to start up all those machines? And when they started doing that, I said, if you if you do it, you'll see an immediate decrease in your bill. And the next month their bill had dropped by 20%. And by continuing to engage in those behaviors, they held on to that 20% savings for a total savings of $100,000 over the course of the rest of the year. So it's not always about having to buy light bulbs, it's not always about having to, you know, get additional equipment. Sometimes it can be as easy as understanding how that bill works and just changing production by a little bit in order to get a maximum benefit. And those are the things that I really love to talk with customers about. That's what I mean by price performance or that fair exchange of value. We provide perfect power, the customer provides perfect payments, and everyone gets along just fine.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you can really stack quite a few things here and make all of them are great savings, substantial savings, and who doesn't want more savings? And so as we look at some of these programs that Jim spoke about, um, those provide uh savings, substantial savings in some instances. And then on top of this kind of peak demand and just understanding your power use, really, once you start to kind of layer those, you can be in making some major differences in your um operating costs across the board, which is really um beneficial because that kind of rolls through other things that organization then can spend that money either in savings, but also they could look to say expand, make additional changes. Like on the economic development side, I often think about workforce. Is this enable an opportunity for additional employees to come online? Does this enable another machine to come online? Some of these different things. So this could make some real impact across the board for organizations.
SPEAKER_04You're exactly right. And yet at the same time, Allison, I would say that a lot of my customers seem to think that I'm from the electric utility and I'm here to help is one of the three great lies. Because I have a hard time getting in to see my customers. And the frustration for me is that I know personally I've given customers over $3 million in hard savings just by offering things like shifting demand or using the energy efficiency program. And over the course of the next 10 years, that could be as much as $9 to $10 million in savings. And what I really want to do is help my customers easily understand their bill so they can focus on their core business, not about, you know, keeping a watch on the utility, right? I want to get it to the point where they can size up their bill in 90 seconds and know whether they should call me or not. But if everything is okay, then get on with the business of creating jobs, adding new construction, all those other things that we really need businesses to do here.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So I do the business um retention expansion tour. We call them BREs. And I have to say I am continuously putting um this information in front of organizations to try to explain the different opportunities in our area, but no one's gonna say it is good as the individuals that do it every day. So I do really appreciate you guys here helping to break that down. On as we're looking at closing out, I just kind of have a question, you know, what do you see on the horizon for 2026? You know, what's like one thing, Jim? If you said what's one thing the business could do in 2026, um, you know, that what is it? What's the what's the one thing?
SPEAKER_00Evaluate your business for any capital projects and take advantage then of the energy efficiency programs that we offer. Because we are here to to help you do that. And if you can do that in the near term, fantastic. If it's gonna be a longer program, we're still here, but involve us and and we're here to help.
SPEAKER_02Todd, any parting words? Jim kind of really summed it up quite well.
SPEAKER_04So yeah, and to to what Jim's, you know, normally when I talk with customers, I say you look at the bill and there's an energy efficiency writer. All customers pay into the program, but only the truly wise. Or the clever ones, no ways that they can pull it back out. I would ask customers to call me and see what we can accomplish for them at no cost, as part of what they're already paying to the utility. How can they take advantage of those things in order to optimize their business before they look at spending money outside the company? Take stock of everything that you can get for at low or no cost and then go from there.
SPEAKER_02Wow, this has just been so great. Thank you both so much for being here. Todd Lohenry, Jim Cutter, both from IM, Indiana, Michigan Power. Really appreciate your time today. Thank you.
SPEAKER_03Thank you. To learn more about the South Bend Regional Chamber and explore our interactive data dashboard where local economic and labor market data comes alive, visit sbrchamber.com. A special thank you to our sponsor, Old National Bank, where relationships and results matter. Discover what Old National Bank can do for you at OldNational.com.