ICC Approves ComEd Request to Lower Rates by $24 Million in 2019

The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) approved on Tuesday ComEd’s request to lower delivery service charges by $24 million, which will lower customers’ bills beginning in January 2019.

ComEd has significantly upgraded reliability and has reduced the frequency and duration of outages by nearly 50 percent since the start of the smart grid program in 2012. Despite its investments to improve reliability and modernize the grid, this is the third time ComEd has requested a rate decrease.

“This is more good news for our customers," said Joe Dominguez, CEO, ComEd. "Through our smart grid investments and other initiatives, we’re transforming the energy infrastructure in our region, and we’re doing this work with a strong focus on efficiency and cost management to keep service affordable and provide superior value for customers.”

Ten years ago, as new rates took effect in September 2008, the average residential customer bill was approximately $85; in January 2019, it will be approximately $84. Adjusted for inflation, ComEd’s average residential bill has declined about 14 percent over that period. ComEd’s per kilowatt-hour residential rates trend below the average across the entire U.S., including 11 percent below rates in the top 20 and 17 percent below the top 10 U.S. cities by population as of June 2018.

The approved request covers costs of installing more than 330,000 smart meters this year, completing ComEd’s deployment of 4 million smart meters, which enable customers to better control energy consumption and costs. Also included are costs for expanding new customer data and distribution centers and new technologies, such as voltage optimization, which enables more precise and efficient energy usage while improving power quality.

Today’s digital grid enables ComEd to empower customers to save money and energy through new solutions created by the Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA) that took effect in 2017. FEJA authorizes ComEd to invest $1.4 billion over four years in programs that will result in $7 billion in savings for business and residential customers and eliminate 95 billion pounds of carbon emissions. ComEd has already introduced 30 new programs, many of which help improve the energy efficiency of public sector properties, such as K-12 schools and municipal buildings.

ComEd is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC), a Fortune 100 energy company with approximately 10 million electricity and natural gas customers – the largest number of customers in the U.S. ComEd powers the lives of more than 4 million customers across northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state’s population. For more information visit ComEd.com and connect with the company on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

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