CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In 2022, more than 630,000 ComEd residential and business customers saved approximately $176 million on their electric bills by taking advantage of the company’s ComEd Energy Efficiency Program. Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognized ComEd for those achievements.
For the 11th straight year, ComEd received the ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year—Sustained Excellence Award, the EPA’s and DOE’s highest level of recognition. Award recipients are part of a distinguished group that have made long-term commitments to fighting climate change and protecting public health through energy efficiency.
“As we accelerate historic efforts to address climate change, public-private partnerships will be essential to realizing the scale of our ambition,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “I applaud this year’s ENERGY STAR award winners for working with EPA to deliver a clean energy future that saves American consumers and businesses money and creates jobs.”
The ComEd Energy Efficiency Program, which is funded in compliance with state law, helps families and businesses save money and use energy more wisely through a variety of services, incentives and rebates, including new rebates on ENERGY STAR-certified induction cooktops and heat pump clothes dryers.
“As ComEd works to provide customers with clean, reliable energy, we've also worked over the last decade to control costs and keep rates competitive,” said Melissa Washington, senior vice president of customer operations for ComEd. “Part of that effort is through the ComEd Energy Efficiency Program, which enables customers to take control of when and how they use electricity to help them manage costs and lower their electric bills.”
Since 2008, the program has saved customers approximately $7.65 billion on their electric bills. The program also helped customers save more than 70 million net megawatt-hours of electricity, which is the annual equivalent to:
- reducing nearly 60 billion pounds of carbon emissions from the atmosphere,
- removing nearly 6 million cars from the road,
- planting more than 33 million acres of trees and
- powering more than 8 million ComEd customers’ homes.
The program has helped ComEd maintain an average monthly customer bill of $104, which is in the lowest 25 percent compared to the average monthly bills in other states. ComEd’s rates are also below the average of the top U.S. metropolitan areas based on population.
Each year, the ENERGY STAR program honors a select group of businesses and organizations that have made outstanding contributions in the transition to a clean energy economy. ENERGY STAR award winners lead their industries in the production, sale and adoption of energy-efficiency products, homes, buildings, services and strategies. These efforts are essential to fighting the climate crisis, protecting public health, and creating a clean energy future for everyone.
The EPA presents the Sustained Excellence Award to partners that already received ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year recognition for a minimum of two consecutive years and have gone above and beyond the criteria needed to qualify for recognition.
Winners are selected from a network of thousands of ENERGY STAR partners. For a complete list of 2023 winners and more information about ENERGY STAR’s awards program, visit EnergyStar.gov/AwardWinners.
Energy-saving tips
For customers looking to save money now, the ComEd Energy Efficiency Program offers the following energy-saving tips:
- Clean or replace air filters–Heating and cooling consume a large portion of total home energy use in an average household. Dirty air filters make your air and cooling system work harder to circulate air. By cleaning or replacing your filters, you can lower your heating and cooling costs.
- Insulate outlets and light switches–Outlets and light switches on the walls that separate your home from the outdoors are often overlooked sources of heating or cooling loss. Insulating these areas can reduce drafts and keep your home more comfortable.
- Clear areas around heating and cooling vents–Furniture, carpets and other objects can block vents and prevent heated or cooled air from circulating. This makes your system work harder and prevents rooms from quickly achieving the temperature you desire.
- Unplug electronics when they’re not in use–Many gadgets, including televisions, DVR boxes, game consoles and computers, continue to use power even when they are off, so unplug electronics when you don’t need them. For frequently used devices, plug them into a power strip and turn it off.
For additional tips, rebates and energy efficiency services, check out ComEd.com/HomeSavings.
About ComEd
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.
About ENERGY STAR
ENERGY STAR® is the government-backed symbol for energy efficiency, providing simple, credible, and unbiased information that consumers and businesses rely on to make well-informed decisions. Thousands of industrial, commercial, utility, state, and local organizations rely on their partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deliver cost-saving energy efficiency solutions. Since 1992, ENERGY STAR and its partners helped American families and businesses avoid more than $500 billion in energy costs and achieve more than 4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas reductions. More background information about ENERGY STAR’s impacts can be found at EnergyStar.gov/Impacts.