​Industry-leading publication recognizes ComEd's capital investments and job creation in northern Illinois

CHICAGO (September 18, 2017) Site Selection magazine has named ComEd to its annual list of Top 10 Utilities in Economic Development for 2017.  The magazine cites ComEd's 17 direct-involvement project "wins" in 2016. It also noted the anticipated $1.6 billion in projected capital investments creating 6,170 jobs across the 400 municipalities and 25 counties ComEd serves in northern Illinois.  There were an additional nearly 40,000 new indirect jobs reported by the utility's regional economic development organization partners as a result of these efforts.

At the center of this winning strategy is ComEd's internal "Rapid Response Program," created to help facilitate the evaluation process for companies interested in locating their business in northern Illinois.  The program helps to expedite the move to Illinois by convening all the necessary business units to expedite preliminary cost estimates, engineering information and innovation.

"This recognition highlights our focus on stimulating investment, growth and job creation throughout northern Illinois," said Sheila Owens, Vice President of Economic Development for ComEd.  "We continue strengthening our partnerships with our local, state, and regional economic development stakeholders to provide value to our customers and the communities we serve."

Site Selection also references three key initiatives that helped secure ComEd's place in the Top Ten list, including:

• Modification of its line extension tariff by lowering up-front deposit requirements and allowing for faster refunds, benefiting 27 customers who saved $36 million in reduced costs.  The resulting customer projects will create over 3,200 jobs and result in 5 million sq. ft. (464,500 sq. m.) of new facility space.
• ComEd's Energy Ready Zones program, which matches areas with available substation electricity capacity with available large vacant land sites primed for development.
• Efforts to spearhead the launch of a new statewide business outreach and retention initiative known as CORE (Creating Opportunities for Retention and Expansion, www.COREIllinois.org).

A strong, resilient and modern grid is the basis for a successful economic development program; ComEd customers have experienced best-on-record service reliability thanks to the Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act (EIMA), also known as the Smart Grid law, passed by the Illinois General Assembly in 2011 to improve reliability, create jobs and build smart infrastructure for the future.   This $2.6 billion, 10-year project digitized ComEd's infrastructure, provided resiliency and prioritized a premier customer experience.

"ComEd is one of our strongest development allies, providing excellent programs and services to not only to support new growth, but for our important existing businesses as well," said Mark Peterson, CEO of Intersect Illinois, a privately-funded statewide economic development organization. "We know that energy reliability, availability, and price are critical factors in the development process, and ComEd excels with all of these."

This is the fifth time that ComEd has been recognized by Site Selection for its economic development efforts with a Top Ten listing also in 2015, and three honorable mentions in 2008, 2014 and 2016.

​To read the full article, go to https://siteselection.com/issues/2017/sep/top-utilities-decision-enhancers.cfm

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