Offers winter energy-saving tips, financial assistance for low-income customers

CHICAGO (Nov. 2, 2021) – As the climate changes and northern Illinois sees more frequent severe and destructive weather, ComEd is making the investments necessary to withstand more extreme weather events. In recent years, northern Illinois has experienced extreme cold, ice storms and snowfall that surpass seasonal totals in the winter. ComEd has been hard at work on the energy grid completing hundreds of projects to ensure it is ready to reliably meet the energy needs of families and businesses.

"Winter brings unique challenges to the grid and our customers," said Terry Donnelly, ComEd president and COO. "Extreme cold and ice can be damaging and cause interruptions. As we do every year, we are completing projects to improve grid resiliency during the winter months and finding innovative ways to ensure that our customers have energy when they need it."

ComEd's smart grid investments and the hard work of its more than 6,200 employees have delivered the reliable power that northern Illinois families and businesses expect and prepare the system to withstand more major storms and extreme temperatures. Since starting smart grid investments in 2012, ComEd has achieved best on record customer satisfaction, primarily driven by improved reliability and reasonable rates. In this time, ComEd has avoided more than 16 million customer outages due in part to smart grid and system improvements. As a result of these investments, customers also saved $2.7 billion in avoided outages.

ComEd is continually evaluating innovative technology that can bring greater resiliency and reliability to the grid. Earlier this year, ComEd announced the first permanent installation in the nation of high-temperature superconductor wire from American Superconductor to enhance the reliability, resiliency and performance of the electric power grid. The superconductor provides redundancy between substations to ensure energy can continue to flow if a catastrophic event takes one substation offline.

Recognizing that economic challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic continue to challenge many Illinois families, ComEd offers a range of programs to help eligible customers pay their electric bills. These include flexible payment options, financial assistance for past-due balances and usage alerts for current bills. Any customer experiencing a hardship or difficulty with their electric bill should call ComEd immediately at 1-800-334-7661 (1-800-EDISON-1), Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to learn more and enroll in a program.

Customers in need of financial assistance also can visit the nearest CEDA (Cook County) or LIHEAP (outside of Cook County) agency to apply for assistance. For a list of social service agencies accepting applications, call CEDA at 800-571-2332 or LIHEAP at 877-411-9276, or visit ComEd.com.

Additionally, ComEd offers no- and low-cost tips to help customers reduce their energy costs during the winter months:

• Lower manual or programmable thermostats 7 degrees to 10 degrees during the winter when leaving the home for eight or more hours to save up to 10 percent of heating costs.
• At a minimum, change filters every three months. If the filter looks dirty, change it sooner. A dirty filter will slow down air flow and make the system work harder, which wastes energy.
• Replace conventional incandescent holiday lights with LEDs (lighting emitting diodes). LED holiday lights typically consume at least 75 percent less energy.
• Get a free home energy assessment, receive rebates on qualifying ENERGY STAR® appliances and smart thermostats, and save instantly with in-store discounts on LED lighting and other home products.
  
   The ComEd Energy Efficiency Program has empowered customers to save more than $5.7 billion on their energy bills since 2008. For more information on ways customers can save money and energy, visit ComEd.com/WaysToSave.