Chicago (May 9, 2002) Commonwealth Edison officials today told the Illinois Commerce Commission that it has enough electricity under contract to meet demand and keep its customers cool on the hottest days of summer.
ComEd forecasts that a record demand of 21,900 MW is possible this summer, but the company is prepared to meet even greater demand than that. According to ComEd, the company has approximately 23,200 megawatts (MW) of electricity under contract this summer from a range of resources (note: 1 MW powers approximately 1000 homes). The majority of that power comes primarily from the nuclear plants owned by Exelon, ComEd’s parent company, and from the fossil-fuel facilities owned by Midwest Generation. The remainder comes from other Exelon-owned and contracted resources, including plants built in Illinois by independent power producers.
ComEd officials noted that electric supply in Illinois is plentiful. In fact, generating resources in place to serve customers in the ComEd service territory are in excess of 26,000 MW.
In 2001, the company withstood heat waves that registered 11 days of temperatures at or above 90 degrees and three new records for peak electric use in the company’s Northern Illinois service territory. The company set its all-time peak demand record of 21,574 MW on August 9, 2001, just below the 21,850 MW that was the forecasted peak for 2001. Prior to last summer, ComEd’s record peak electric use of 21,243 MW was set on July 30, 1999.
“The real test for ComEd has always been on the hottest days of the year,” said Arlene Juracek, Vice President of Regulatory and Strategic Services for ComEd. “Our performance last year, under conditions that led to ComEd’s all-time record for electric demand, demonstrated that our preparations for summer paid off. This year, we’ve again taken many step to prepare for summer, and can assure our customers that ComEd will have an adequate supply of power to meet their needs, even when the weather gets hot and humid.”
Commonwealth Edison is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC), one of the nation's largest electric utilities with more than $15 billion in revenues and a customer base of five million. ComEd provides service to more than 3.4 million customers across Northern Illinois, or nearly 70 percent of the state's population.