CHARLESTON, West Virginia, March 12, 2015 – Appalachian Power will close the public downstream fishing area at the Winfield Hydroelectric Project in Kanawha County from mid-March until early June so that construction work can be completed without danger to the public.

Appalachian has scheduled closing public access to the tailrace fishing area from March 16 until June 2 to allow maintenance work on the abutment. The construction dates are subject to weather and river conditions. Warning signs will be posted at the site and questions regarding the access may be directed to Appalachian Power at (304) 348-5765.

Public fishing access at Appalachian’s Marmet Hydroelectric Project nearby will remain open. It is located at 200 86^th Street in Marmet.

The Winfield power plant on the Kanawha River has three generating units with a combined capacity of almost 15 megawatts. The plant will remain in operation during the construction.

Appalachian Power has 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is a unit of American Electric Power, one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, which delivers 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.

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