[April 16, 2014] |
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ComEd Files Rate Request to Support Smart Grid in Illinois
CHICAGO --(Business Wire)--
ComEd today filed its annual delivery service rate request with the
Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) to reflect grid modernization and
other service-enhancing investments across the region. Today's filing
marks the fourth under the 2011 Smart Grid law - the first resulting in
a rate decrease - that established a performance-based rate model to
support modernizing the electric infrastructure serving northern
Illinois.
"ComEd continues to make strong progress on our 10-year initiative to
transform the electric grid for the benefit of all our customers," said
Anne Pramaggiore, president and CEO, ComEd. "Grid modernization is
already bearing fruit with the best reliability in ComEd history for our
customers in 2013, several thousand new jobs created and advanced tools
to help customers reduce their energy consumption and costs. These
investments are helping to connect our 4 million customers across
northern Illinois to the 21st century digital economy,
contributing to the strength of the entire region."
ComEd's delivery service charges would increase by about $3 on the
average monthly residential bill starting in January 2015, as proposed
to the Commission. This is based on a revenue request of approximately
$275 million to recover the cost of investments already made in the
system. The increase reflects the costs of the Grid Modernization
project that peak in the early years of deployment, including the
installation of smart meters. As work on the program ramps down in
future years, related delivery service increases will stabilize.
In 2013, Illinois had the lowest residential electricity rates in the
Midwest and the 12th lowest rate in the U.S. Currently, ComEd's
residential rates are essentially the same as when the Smart Grid
pogram was enacted in 2011 and well below the average of leading U.S.
cities.
Today's filing complies with the annual rate-setting process established
by the Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act (EIMA) enacted in 2011.
In each annual filing, utilities submit their previous year's actual
expenses and the current year's projected capital investments. The ICC
has eight months to make a determination on the rate request.
Over the past two years, EIMA investments resulted in approximately
500,000 fewer customer interruptions, producing estimated customer
savings of $82 million, said Pramaggiore. ComEd's system reliability
performance in 2013 ranked in the top decile of performance among peer
utilities and has ranked in the top quartile in four of the past five
years. By the end of the program, the modernization investments ComEd is
making are expected to result in 700,000 fewer outages per year -
savings customers $100 million annually in related costs.
ComEd also recently announced that work related to its sweeping smart
grid initiative supported 2,871 full-time equivalent positions in 2013.
The positions included nearly 1,000 direct full-time equivalent jobs at
the utility and its contractors as well as more than 1,800 indirect
positions created by the effect of $253 of capital investments in the
program in 2013. ComEd works with the Regional Economic Applications
Laboratory (REAL) at the University of Illinois to calculate the number
of indirect positions resulting from the smart grid investment.
An upgraded, stronger electric system, fewer power interruptions and
greater operational efficiencies will result in savings of approximately
$2 billion over 20 years. These savings, which will be passed on to
ComEd customers, are in addition to savings that customers can realize
with digital smart meters, which provide greater control over energy
consumption and costs as well as easier access to new pricing programs
that shift usage to times of day when energy costs are lower.
ComEd has filed a request with the ICC to complete the installation of
more than 4 million smart meters by 2018, ahead of the currently
scheduled 2021. If approved, the accelerated program would begin this
year, increasing the number of smart meters installed in 2014 from
160,000 to 500,000. The acceleration is expected to save customers an
additional $170 million compared to the current schedule. The ICC is
expected to announce its decision on the accelerated plan in May.
ComEd also is leveraging smart grid investments to help residential
customers and nonprofit organizations that need assistance in paying
their energy bills. This support comes in the form of direct financial
assistance as well as flexible billing and payment options for
low-income, active military members and veterans, senior citizens and
those facing financial hardships. The utility announced in March that it
has dedicated $10 million in CARE customer assistance funds for the
third consecutive year, as a result of the Smart Grid law. Last year
through the CARE programs, ComEd was able to help more than 28,000
customers with their bills.
Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon
Corporation (NYSE: EXC), the nation's leading competitive energy
provider, with approximately 6.6 million customers. ComEd provides
service to approximately 3.8 million customers across northern Illinois,
or 70 percent of the state's population.
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