Power interruptions are at record lows. Smart meter savings are on the rise. And customer satisfaction is at an all-time high.
These trends are all outcomes of the Smart Grid Law passed by the Illinois General Assembly in 2011, and they are giving ComEd customers more power over their energy use, while also ensuring that power keeps flowing better than ever. Officially known as the Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act (EIMA), the law authorized ComEd to invest $2.6 billion to upgrade and modernize the energy grid over a 10-year period.
ComEd recently published its EIMA Capstone Report which details how customers have been reaping the rewards with record-breaking reliability and an associated $1.4 billion in societal savings.
ComEd recently submitted the Infrastructure Investment Plan and Advanced Metering Implementation Progress Reports – these are annual reports that update the Illinois Commerce Commission on the smart grid program and its progress.
As highlighted in these reports, ComEd’s grid modernization efforts have resulted in:
- Reducing the frequency of service interruptions by 44 percent
- Reducing the duration of service interruptions by 48 percent
- Avoiding more than 7.6 million power interruptions and generating $1.4 billion in societal savings.
- Investing in the Illinois economy resulting in 60 new economic development projects for northern Illinois, representing 11,227 jobs and $4.3 billion in capital investment
- Implementing programs to stimulate the economy such as the CONSTRUCT job training program, and STEM initiatives for teens that include the “Icebox Derby” and “Solar Spotlight” programs. ComEd’s smart grid program includes the installation of smart meters, which enable customers to better control energy consumption and costs. To date, ComEd has installed more than 3 million smart meters in homes and businesses. ComEd plans to complete the installation of 4 million smart meters throughout northern Illinois by the end of 2018.
Smart meter benefits include easy access to money-saving programs such as ComEd’s Peak Time Savings program. Program participants are earning financial incentives by reducing energy usage during just a few peak demand hours, with 166,383 customers earning $1.2 million in bill credits since the program debuted in 2015.
Learn more about ComEd’s Infrastructure Investment Plan and Advanced Metering Implementation Progress reports here.
