ComEd deploys new customer assistance programs offering credits, education and more

ComEd recently announced three new assistance programs that will raise awareness of available options, offer monthly credits and distribute donations from company staff.

These will take the form of the Catch Up and Save program, Fresh Start Services, and Your Neighbor Fund. Their deployment followed interviews with more than two dozen community stakeholders and a study that marked a first-of-its-kind foray from an energy company.

“To better anticipate the changing needs of the communities ComEd serves, we’ve spoken to a number of local leaders and public officials, including Chicago Mayor Lightfoot, who is looking to businesses like ComEd to join forces to create solutions,” Gil Quiniones, ComEd CEO, said. “My takeaway is that families don’t just need help paying bills, they need that help to be both easier to access and more immediate.”

None of the new programs replace other ComEd assistance offerings – they are additions. Catch Up and Save takes the form of a two-part service offering monthly credits to customers’ bills to tackle past-due balances and a free energy savings kit to help lower future home energy use. On the other hand, Fresh Start Services focuses on education and outreach, helping customers, both online and person-to-person, understand and be aware of options for managing bills and energy use.

The final option is more personal, a drive from ComEd’s employees that will provide grant funding to limited-income families. This fund is purely built on donations from the company’s 6,000 employees.

The study leading to these offerings was conducted by national policy companies ILLUME Advising and IEc, as commissioned by ComEd to help it consider new ways of customer support in line with Illinois state goals – as illustrated by the Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA) – to make the decarbonization transition equitable.