ComEd partnership with Arbor Day Foundation has provided more than 28,000 trees

CHICAGO (April 29, 2021) – In honor of Arbor Day on April 30, ComEd is donating dozens of trees to communities across northern Illinois to help revitalize their green spaces after a devastating derecho storm struck the region in August 2020 and destroyed thousands of trees, some of them decades old.

ComEd is donating 165 trees to Chicago, whose parks alone lost more than 550 trees as a result of the storm, as well as Elmhurst, Fulton, Harvey, Joliet, Roscoe, River Grove, Bellwood, Belvidere, Park Ridge, Herscher, Gurnee, LaGrange and Blue Island. Each community will select the species and locations where they will be planted.

"Last August, we experienced one of worst and costliest thunderstorms in U.S. history with 110 mph wind gusts and 15 tornadoes, and we saw the impact it had on these communities and our customers who live there," said Michelle Blaise, ComEd senior vice president, Technical Services. "We care about giving back to our communities and understand that trees are valuable assets in our green spaces. While we restored half a million customers who lost power in just 24 hours, restoring the trees that were lost is a long-term undertaking. It's been eight months since the storm, and we are glad to be back celebrating Arbor Day with these communities to replace trees lost to the storm."

ComEd's Energy Saving Trees Program, in partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation, has donated more than 28,000 trees to customers since 2015, including approximately 3,200 free tree saplings this year. The types of trees included Early Wild Rose, Eastern Redbud, Meadowsweet, Ninebark, Red-stemmed Dogwood, Silky Dogwood, Smoothleaf Hydrangea and Spicebush, which are all low-growing trees that will not interfere with power lines.

"ComEd is proud to have partnered with the Arbor Day Foundation over the past six years to provide free, power line-friendly trees to our customers," Blaise said. "Not only are these trees helping us provide reliable electricity, but they also are helping keep our air clean by reducing more than 31.6 million pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere."

ComEd's team of arborists is leading Arbor Day celebrations across northern Illinois, including donating tree logs and branches to the Phillips Park Zoo in Aurora, Ill., to enhance the habitat for birds of prey at the zoo.