ComEd achieved increased reliability, greater clean energy access and new customer support programs in 2023
According to a recent report from the Illinois-based ComEd, the electric company managed a variety of gains last year, including becoming the most reliable utility in America through a mix of smart grid improvements, clean energy deployments, and new customer programs.
That reliability title was granted by PA Consulting, which credited ComEd with fewer outages in 2023 than at any other point in its history. The company began smart grid improvements in 2012, both to meet state goals, counter the effects of climate change-induced severe weather and improve air quality in northern Illinois. Since then, its customers have reportedly experienced overall reliability improvements of more than 70 percent and avoided nearly 21.7 million outages.
“We will remember 2023 as the year we confronted the challenges of climate change by expanding clean energy resources in northern Illinois, all while delivering best-in-industry reliability to our customers,” Gil Quiniones, ComEd president and CEO, said. “This performance is a testament to the skill and dedication of our 6,300 ComEd employees, who are committed to empowering ComEd customers with new tools to navigate the clean energy transition and ensuring that the grid is positioned to power a cleaner, more equitable future for all.”
At this point, ComEd also runs one of the largest energy efficiency programs in the country, as a means to reduce energy consumption and costs. As of 2023, it has helped save $8 billion since its 2008 launch. At the same time, the company has kept residential average monthly bills comparable to other metropolitan areas, although its commercial and industrial bills were, on average, respectively 19 percent and 44 percent less than bills in the other top 20 metropolitan areas last year.
The company’s solar systems and related energy storage facilities have now grown to more than 54,000, and even its community solar sites have reached the 100 mark, allowing around 25,000 residential customers to participate without installing solar panels of their own. Solar calculators, a growing distributed generation rebate program and securing of nearly $70 million in federal infrastructure grants and awards has also helped ComEd’s efforts in its community. At the same time, ComEd said that it connected more than 198,000 customers to more than $94 million in financial assistance and support options.
As of 2023, enough clean energy was available in Illinois to reach 96 percent or more of ComEd’s customers’ energy consumption through clean energy sources.
