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ComEd Receives Approval to Accelerate Smart Meter Installation, Benefits
[June 11, 2014]

ComEd Receives Approval to Accelerate Smart Meter Installation, Benefits


CHICAGO --(Business Wire)--

ComEd announced today that the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) approved its filing to accelerate smart meter installation plans. As a result, the installation of more than four million smart meters throughout ComEd's service territory will be complete by 2018, three years in advance of the originally scheduled 2021 completion date and will accelerate $170 million in customer savings. To date, nearly 300,000 smart meters have been installed in the Chicago area.

"We are pleased that the ICC has approved the accelerated timetable," said Mike McMahan, vice president of Advanced Metering Infrastructure Implementation, ComEd. "This means that more customers will realize smart meter benefits much sooner than originally expected "By the end of 2014, ComEd will have installed more than 500,000 smart meters for the year and 700,000 in total, providing customers with more reliable service and better control over their electrical use."

ComEd customers will more rapidly gain benefits offered by smart meters including new tools to better manage their electricity consumption and programs such as Peak Time Savings, which will reward customers for reducing their energy use during peak usage times. Smart meters provide customers direct, 24/7 access to information on their individual energy consumption. By using "My Energy Tools" at ComEd.com, for example, customers can see their usage from the prior day, on an hour-by-hour basis. This detailed information can help customers customize their energy use and make informed decisions about how and when they would best benfit from using the electrical devices in their homes.



"The new smart meters are at the heart of what we believe will become the electricity network of the future," said Val Jensen, senior vice president of Customer Operations, ComEd. "It will provide the intelligence our customers need to make smart energy choices. Along with the meter deployment, we're working hard to bring our customers new products and services that will increase the value they can get from this network."

As a result of the Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act (EIMA), ComEd is investing $2.6 billion into one of the nation's largest grid modernization programs, and a critical piece of these investments is the deployment of over 4 million smart meters.


Through ComEd's Smart Grid Exchange initiative, the company is actively exploring a range of solutions, partnerships and programs to help customers benefit from smart meters. Acceleration of smart meter installation will speed the move to a more energy efficient future.

In May, as part of the Smart Grid Exchange, ComEd announced its Student Contest, designed to task college students with creating innovative smart meter related products, services or software apps that will help low-income customers use their home's smart meter to manage their electric bill and save energy. The ComEd Student Contest is open to any individual student or team of two to five students (including recent graduates) attending any college or university within ComEd's northern Illinois service territory. Students or student-teams must register to compete and submit a video outlining their concept by June 15, 2014, by sending an email to [email protected] that includes the student's name, area of study, school, email address and phone number.

For more information about smart meters, visit www.ComEd.com/smartmeter.

Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC), the nation's leading competitive energy provider, with approximately 7.8 million customers. ComEd provides service to approximately 3.8 million customers across northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state's population. For more information visit ComEd.com, and connect with the company on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.


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