AEP's Texas Pirkey coal unit seen back soon

HOUSTON, April 21 (Reuters) - American Electric Power Co Inc (AEP.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said it planned to restart the 675-megawatt Pirkey coal-fired power station in Texas over the upcoming weekend, the company told Texas regulators in a report.

The unit was reported shut on Friday to repair the air heater. Pirkey also shut earlier this month due to an equipment malfunction.

The Pirkey station, which entered service in 1985, is located in Hallsville in Harrison County, about 140 miles east of Dallas.

One MW powers about 500 homes in Texas.

AEP's regulated Southwestern Electric Power Co subsidiary operates the station for its owners: Northeast Texas Electric Co-op Inc (12 percent), Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority (2 percent) and Southwestern Electric Power Co (86 percent)

AEP 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 Eileen O'Grady; Editing by Christian Wiessner)