[April 03, 2014] |
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Smart Grid Program Supports More than 2,800 Jobs in 2013
CHICAGO --(Business Wire)--
ComEd announced that work related to its sweeping Smart Grid initiative
supported 2,871 full-time equivalent positions in 2013. The positions
included nearly 1,000 direct full-time equivalent jobs at the utility
and its contractors as well as more than 1,800 indirect positions
created by the program. The data was submitted this week in the
company's 2013 grid modernization progress report to the Illinois
Commerce Commission (ICC).
The report showed that the grid modernization program - a comprehensive
effort to modernize and build a smart grid, improve system reliability
and reduce outages, and deploy 4 million smart meters - produced 978
full-time equivalent positions, including 314 at the utility and 664
contractor positions. In addition, ComEd estimates that 1,893 indirect
jobs were generated over the course of the year at a variety of
businesses that benefit from the ripple effect of approximately $253
million in capital spending. ComEd works with the Regional Economic
Applications Laboratory (REAL) at the University of Illinois to
calculate the number of indirect positions resulting from the mart grid
investment.
"From the very beginning of this program, one of our main objectives has
been to create good-paying jobs across our service area, and we're very
excited to report that we're exceeding the goals established by the
Illinois General Assembly when it passed this important legislation,"
said Anne Pramaggiore, president and CEO of ComEd. "We also have
submitted a plan to accelerate the installation of smart meters this
summer so we anticipate that this significant investment and expansive
work under the Smart Grid program will remain a strong driver of
economic growth for some time to come."
If approved by the ICC, the new plan will enable the utility to complete
the installation of more than 4 million smart meters by 2018, ahead of
the currently scheduled 2021. The acceleration is expected to save
customers an additional $170 million compared to the current schedule.
By allowing for two-way communications with the utility and real-time
data, digital smart meters provide customers with greater control over
energy consumption and costs and will make it easier to take advantage
of new pricing programs.
The Smart Grid law passed in 2011 authorized ComEd to invest $2.6
billion over 10 years to modernize its electric grid, over $1.3 billion
of which is earmarked to build a Smart Grid network and install smart
meters in 4 million homes and businesses. ComEd's grid modernization
plan for 2014 includes $203 million in investments dedicated to system
reliability, including refurbishing, replacing and upgrading system
infrastructure, along with storm hardening and automation work to
improve resiliency of circuits especially susceptible to storms. The
efforts are expected to continue to reduce the frequency and duration of
power outages affecting customers.
Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon
Corporation (NYSE: EXC), the nation's leading competitive energy
provider, with approximately 6.6 million customers. ComEd provides
service to approximately 3.8 million customers across northern Illinois,
or 70 percent of the state's population.
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