ComEd Ambassador Program Provides Jobs and Support to Customers in Need
January 23, 2025
For Diane Flowers of Chicago’s Westlawn neighborhood, educating struggling families about the support options available to pay their electric bills is more than a job. It’s a way to pay good fortune forward.
Diane educates the public as a hired member of ComEd’s Community Energy Assistance Ambassador (CEAA) program. Since 2020, and borne out of the need to help struggling families during the Covid pandemic, the program has provided temporary, part-time jobs to hundreds of individuals across Chicago and in Rockford, Ill.
Ambassadors learn about the dozens of options ComEd customers have to pay their electric bills. They attend events in communities hardest hit by the economy, where they help educate others about utility bill-assistance options available through ComEd and other state and federal programs. The idea is to recruit individuals who know their neighborhoods well enough to help identify where and how to effectively connect ComEd customers to the bill assistance they need. Entering the 2024-25 winter season, CEAAs have reached out to thousands of northern Illinois families.
“When I first joined the program, I was unemployed and had applied for LIHEAP (the state’s Low-Income Housing Energy Assistance Program) to help pay my electric bill,” Diane said. “I heard about the program and fell in love with what ComEd and Chatham Business Association wanted to do. So many people are overwhelmed these days and aren’t aware of the options they have available to them to pay their bills. I know about this first-hand. And now I get to make people aware of those options.”
What is CEAA?
This winter season, there are approximately 100 CEAAs hired to help to connect ComEd customers to bill-assistance programs across the Chicago area and Rockford, Ill. Due to demand, two of these positions are full-time for the first time in the history of the five-year-old program.
“We go to events and prep materials to hand out,” said Nancy Garcia, who lives on Chicago’s south side and became an ambassador for the first time this past year. “It’s important to know the details because we get lots of questions on how these programs work and how people can take advantage of them. I have lots of neighbors who also qualify for these programs, so I find myself talking to them about this even when I’m not working as an ambassador.”
CEAAs are also trained to play a crucial role in educating the public on ways to better manage their energy use. This includes information on offerings available through the award-winning ComEd Energy Efficiency Program, which offers rebates, discounts and services designed to help customers manage energy use and lower future electricity bills.
“ComEd is always looking for innovative ways to help connect customers to the support they need,” said Melissa Washington, ComEd’s senior vice president of customer operations and strategic initiatives. “CEAA is just one example of how we leverage community organizations to meet customers where they are, while uplifting families with employment opportunities during a critical time of the year.”
CEAA is administered by the Chatham Business Association (CBA), a small-business resource center that sources eligible participants from across Chicago and Rockford for CEAA, then hires, trains, equips and manages ambassadors on bill-support options.
“I am grateful for ComEd’s trust in CBA to manage the CEAA program,” said Melinda Kelly, CBA chairman and president. “ComEd looks to CBA to collaborate with reputable community organizations and stakeholders so that, together, we can provide the type of education and outreach that helps anyone access the assistance they need.”
To access the latest list of upcoming events staffed by CEAAs, scan the QR code or click here. For ComEd customers unable to attend any CEAA or Powering Lives events, ComEd offers its Smart Assistance Manager (SAM), an online self-service tool that matches customers with bill-assistance and other programs that can help them manage their electric bills now and into the future.
