ComEd proposes $100M per year plan to support electrification in northern Illinois

ComEd officially submitted its plan to support the adoption of beneficial electrification technologies to the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) this week, setting up potential commitments of up to $100 million per year over the next three years.

This money would take the form of incentives, education efforts, and infrastructure support, all to promote beneficial electrification programs through efforts to reduce upfront costs of electric vehicles and their charging equipment, encourage deploying of that infrastructure broadly and equitably, and prioritize investments for communities in need while educating those in them.

“ComEd is committed to supporting a clean energy future that promotes cleaner air and safer communities, and that helps all of our communities achieve the goals set forward by the state’s new clean energy law,” ComEd CEO Gil Quiniones said. “The threat of climate change requires us to take swift action to reduce emissions by moving faster to adopt cleaner technologies. Designed with input from a wide range of local stakeholders and experts, our plan will reduce barriers for customers and support broad adoption of electrification across homes, schools, and communities in our region – keeping the state at the forefront for clean energy while creating the infrastructure needed to eliminate harmful emissions across all our communities.”

The beneficial electrification plan consists of six main components: a residential program, a C&I/public sector program, a new C&I EV charging class, customer education/pilot programs, non-transportation opportunities, and a rate recovery plan. All will work to support the next stage of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), most importantly by helping to get 1 million EVs on the road in Illinois by 2030 and reducing greenhouse gas emissions overall.

ComEd estimated that its vehicle and other incentives/rebates included in the plan would help remove 900,000 metric tons of carbon emissions and help avoid an estimated 4,000 metric tons of local pollutants emitted from vehicle tailpipes. This would provide benefits to health and human welfare as a result, particularly for disadvantaged communities vehicle emissions have historically been most impacted.

The BE Plan would provide $15 million in incentives annually to reduce upfront costs related to the purchase and installation of EVs, in-home charging stations, and non-transportation electrification equipment for residential customers, with larger rebates granted to low-income customers and those in environmental justice/equity investment eligible communities. At the same time, $63 million has been proposed for annual rebates on fleet electrification, primarily for public transit, commercial, and school fleets. Another $9 million would also go toward an electrification community education program.

Changing things up, ComEd also proposed creating a dedicated EV charging delivery customer rate class for commercial and industrial customers, which would provide significantly reduced upfront infrastructure costs. Non-transportation rebates would also supplement other elements of the BE plan.

Lastly, an element that directly impacts all customers: ComEd used this filing to propose a cost recovery plan that would put off residential bill increases until 2025, at which point bills would go up on average of 11 cents per month and up to 21 cents per month by 2027. Commercial and industrial customers would see bills rise 42 cents per MW hour in 2025, up to 83 cents per MWh in 2027.