ComEd tops charts for electric reliability fifth year running

Strong performance continued to flow from Illinois’ ComEd this year, with reliability better than any year prior, running on the heels of industry standard measures that determined the company experienced fewer power outages on average last year than any comparable company.

With its performance in 2021, ComEd’s reliability achieved top marks for its fifth straight year, not just for the lack of outages but for the company’s response when they did occur. According to an analysis of 25 peer U.S. energy companies with approximately 1 million or more customers, it restored to service as fast or faster on average than those other companies.

Some of the credit is due to smart grid improvements that began in 2012. According to ComEd, its work in that arena has helped customers avoid nearly 19 million outages, ultimately saving more than $3 billion in outage-related costs. In the first 10 months of this year, the company’s performance has been 82 percent better than when those smart grid improvements first started to be rolled out. More than 3.6 million of the company’s 4.1 million customers have faced no more than one outage this year.

“Our customers appreciate that the energy we deliver is some of the cleanest and lowest cost in the nation, but what they value most is the 24/7 reliability of our critical service,” Gil Quiniones, ComEd CEO, said. “It’s gratifying to see the difference a decade’s worth of investment to make our power grid stronger and more intelligent has made for the 9 million people we have the privilege of serving every day.”

Prices haven’t risen dramatically despite these investments, either. Comparing data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the average monthly bills for ComEd’s residential customers remained lower than the average in 49 out of 50 states and less than what their bills were at the same time last year.