CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In advance of Arbor Day on April 28, ComEd announced it will donate 3,125 tree and shrub saplings to ComEd customers across northern Illinois to enhance green spaces and create shade that can reduce home energy use. Customers interested in receiving a free tree or shrub should visit ArborDay.org/ComEd through Sunday, April 9, 2023, while supplies last, to select a ready-to-plant sapling.
ComEd, in collaboration with the Arbor Day Foundation’s Energy-Saving Trees program, recognizes the important role that trees, shrubs and other vegetation play in maintaining clean air and community spaces. These trees and shrubs can also have a positive impact on energy efficiency for customers when strategically placed on their property.
“ComEd is committed to a carbon-free future—and one way to help meet this goal is by protecting our green spaces and lowering carbon emissions in our communities,” said Gil Quiniones, CEO of ComEd. “In collaboration with the Arbor Day Foundation, ComEd is proud to donate 3,125 trees to residents who are committed to building a cleaner future with us.”
The Energy-Saving Trees program, started by the Arbor Day Foundation in 2011, has reduced air pollution, storm water runoff and energy costs for customers by helping cool homes. Since 2015, ComEd’s involvement in the program has engaged nearly 22,000 homeowners and planted more than 31,000 trees. This effort will help save over 51 million kilowatt hours of electricity and sequester more than 34 million pounds of carbon over the next 20 years. This impact equates to taking 6,700 cars off the road every year.
“ComEd’s continued investment in this program means cleaner air and water for all residents in Illinois,” said Dan Lambe, CEO of the Arbor Day Foundation. “The trees distributed by the Energy-Saving Trees program will provide innumerable environmental benefits for years to come. We are proud to partner with ComEd year-after-year in their mission to build a carbon-free future.”
Interested customers can choose from more than 15 tree and shrub species, while supplies last, including Black Birch, Coralberry, Dogwood, Hazelnut, Redbud and Witch Hazel. Plants and planting and tree care instructions will be shipped to customers for free at the end of April 2023. Visit ComEd.com/Trees for “Right Tree, Right Place” planting guidance to avoid impact to powerlines.
The Energy-Saving Tree program is powered by i-Tree, a credible research-based forestry tool. Using the i-Tree tool, which includes benefits estimations from the USDA Forest Service, interested customers can research the environmental and energy impact of adding a tree to their property, and identify where to plant the optimal type of tree to maximize those benefits. Properly planted trees reduce home energy use by shading homes in the summer and blocking strong winds in the winter, with the potential of lowering energy bills up to 20 percent when the trees fully mature.
The annual tree giveaway program is one example of ComEd’s track record of environmental stewardship. Earlier this year, the company unveiled ComEd 2030, a vision for advancing a low-carbon future in ways that benefit all northern Illinois communities. It sets out a plan for how investments in ComEd’s infrastructure and customer programs can advance critical policy goals and the company’s long tradition of service.
In addition to its 2030 vision, ComEd is making investments across the region and in its own operations to help confront the impacts of climate change, including the expansion of clean energy access, the conservation of local habitats and wildlife, infrastructure updates that support a climate-resilient grid, the reduction of operational waste, and environmental grant funding to ensure that communities in Illinois can meet their own climate resiliency goals.
ComEd joins other Exelon companies across the country as an Arbor Day Foundation Evergreen Alliance member in delivering free trees to enhance the local environment. Over the past decade, ComEd, along with its sister utilities Atlantic City Electric, BGE, Delmarva Power, PECO and Pepco, have collectively donated more than 125,000 trees to the communities they serve.
ComEd is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ: EXC), a Fortune 200 energy company with approximately 10 million electricity and natural gas customers – the largest number of customers in the U.S. ComEd powers the lives of more than 4 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, Instagram and YouTube.
Founded in 1972, the Arbor Day Foundation has grown to become the largest nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees, with more than one million members, supporters and valued partners. Since 1972, almost 500 million Arbor Day Foundation trees have been planted in neighborhoods, communities, cities and forests throughout the world. Our vision is to lead toward a world where trees are used to solve issues critical to survival.
As one of the world’s largest operating conservation foundations, the Arbor Day Foundation, through its members, partners and programs, educates and engages stakeholders and communities across the globe to involve themselves in its mission of planting, nurturing and celebrating trees. More information is available at arborday.org.