AEP Mich. Cook 2 reactor exits outage

NEW YORK, Aug 21 (Reuters) - American Electric Power Co Inc's (AEP.N) 1,077-megawatt Unit 2 at the Cook nuclear power station in Michigan exited an outage and ramped up to 26 percent power by early Thursday, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a report.

On Wednesday, the unit was operating at 1 percent of capacity.

The company shut the unit on Aug. 16 for maintenance on the turbine control system.

The 2,106 MW Cook station is located in Bridgman in Berrien County, about 80 miles east of Chicago. There are two units at the station, the 1,029 MW Unit 1 and Unit 2, which entered service in 1975 and 1978.

Unit 1 continued to operate at full power.

One MW powers about 800 homes in Illinois.

In 2005, the NRC renewed the plant's original 40-year operating licenses for both units for another 20 years to 2034 and 2037.

AEP, of Columbus, Ohio, owns and operates more than 38,000 MW of generating capacity, markets energy commodities, and transmits and distributes electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by John Picinich)