How ComEd Energy Efficiency Program helps you do your part for Earth Day

For more than 100 years, ComEd has had the honor of serving and supporting the people of northern Illinois through the delivery of safe and reliable electricity.

And over the years, we've built an infrastructure that helps deliver more clean energy, with programs designed particularly to help communities with high pollution levels. But making this electricity available is not enough if the families and businesses who need it can't afford it.

That's why ComEd has undertaken a number of efforts that have helped us maintain an average monthly customer bill of $104, which is in the lowest 25 percent compared to the average monthly bills in other states. Our rates are also below the average of the top U.S. metropolitan areas based on population.

An important part of this effort has been improvements we've made to the electric grid, which have helped our customers avoid nearly 19 million outages and saved more than $3 billion in outage-related costs that would otherwise be reflected in monthly bills. Equally important is the ability of families and businesses to manage their energy use, save money on their electric bills and contribute to a cleaner environment through the award-winning ComEd Energy Efficiency Program.

The program, which is funded in compliance with state law, offers families and businesses across northern Illinois a range of services and incentives to help reduce energy use - now and into the future. This, in turn, can help the environment.

Since 2008, the program has saved our customers about $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 eight million ComEd customers' homes.

For 11 straight years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy have presented ComEd with its highest level of recognition, the Energy Star Partner of the Year - Sustained Excellence Award. We are proud to be a part of this distinguished group that has made long-term commitments to fighting climate change and protecting public health through energy efficiency.

Energy efficiency programs available To help homeowners save, ComEd offers rebates and discounts on home products, appliances as well as heating and cooling equipment and services. These offers help defray the costs of energy-efficiency equipment and services now, so purchasers can save money, energy and the environment in the future.

And, with an online ComEd account, our residential customers can sign up for free high-usage alerts and weekly usage reports to gain insights on their energy use to help save money and manage their energy.

Business customers can optimize the energy performance of their buildings through retro-commissioning, which consists of a fully-funded study of a facility's existing systems to identify no-and low-cost operational improvements. If done this spring, building owners and managers can prepare their facilities for the upcoming cooling season, while creating a more comfortable environment for their employees and customers.

To help all of our customers manage electric bills, ComEd offers free assessments of homes and business buildings, which are designed to improve energy efficiency and lower energy costs, while enhancing the comfort of those who live and work within it.

When customers sign up for an assessment, one of our energy advisers will collect information about a property's energy features by looking at its lighting, heating and cooling systems, water heaters and appliances. Homeowners receive free and discounted energy-saving products, while all of our customers receive personalized recommendations for saving additional money and energy.

We've found that the average residential customer can save over $125 a year on utility bills because of the energy-saving products installed during or after the assessment. If you'd like more information about this and other energy efficiency offerings, homeowners can visit ComEd.com/HomeSavings.

Business customers can visit ComEd.com/BizSavings.

• Erica Borggren, vice president of customer solutions, ComEd.