ComEd Files Four-Year Grid Plan to Sustain Reliability, Maintain Affordability and Adapt to Rising Energy Demands

Key Terms

illinois commerce commission (icc) regulatory

The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) is the state agency that oversees utilities and certain transportation services in Illinois, acting like a referee who sets rules, approves price changes, and enforces safety and reliability standards. Investors watch ICC decisions because the commission’s approvals or denials on rates, infrastructure projects, and service rules can directly affect a regulated company’s revenue, costs and long-term investment returns.

distributed energy resource management system (derms) technical

A distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) is a software and control platform that monitors, coordinates and optimizes many small energy sources and flexible loads—like rooftop solar, batteries, electric vehicle chargers and smart thermostats—so they work together with the broader power grid. Investors care because a DERMS can increase grid reliability, lower operating costs, unlock new revenue streams (for example by selling flexibility or delaying expensive upgrades), and change the value and earning potential of energy assets much like an air-traffic controller makes many flights run more smoothly.

Plan aligns with State’s clean energy and economic goals; ICC to review through 2026

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ComEd today presented to the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) its second multi-year grid plan (MYGP) containing ComEd’s plans for critical investments to the grid in years 2028-2031. The plan builds upon the energy company’s previous plan to strengthen the grid to continue delivering safe and affordable electric service and nation-leading reliability for ComEd’s customers amid the challenges of increasingly extreme weather and rising energy demands.

“A reliable, affordable and modern power grid is the foundation of economic growth and quality of life in northern Illinois,” said ComEd President and CEO Gil Quiniones. “ComEd’s new grid plan makes critical investments to ensure the grid continues to deliver reliable energy, affordable rates for customers and advances the state's clean energy and economic development priorities.”

ComEd’s plan was developed with stakeholder, customer and Commission feedback and is aligned with the state’s clean energy and economic development growth goals reflected in the Illinois Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) and the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act (CRGA). The plan is designed to expand clean energy technology and access to renewables to create an equitable clean energy future. The ComEd MYGP includes targeted investments to support the region’s rising business energy needs driven by continued economic expansion across a variety of sectors. Last year alone, nine new major commercial projects committed to the ComEd region, representing more than $13 billion in planned investment and an estimated 2,200 new jobs.

Foundational to this plan is ComEd’s Long-Range Strategy (LRS). The LRS drives ComEd’s plan for the next decade of growth, including the rise of large load projects, growing electrification, and increasingly severe weather. By strengthening grid resilience and building flexible capacity now, ComEd seeks to protect customers from the strain of emerging technologies and rising energy demand while reducing long-term costs.

Features of ComEd MYGP for 2028-2031

Based on Commission and stakeholder engagement, as well as shifts shaping ComEd’s energy system, the 2028-2031 MYGP builds on the priorities and investments from the 2024-2027 Grid Plan with new cost-effective investments that address today’s challenges and emerging opportunities.

• Meeting the demands of unprecedented load growth by facilitating new customer connections and increasing energy capacity as ComEd sees major increases in electricity demand at more than 70 of its substations. To meet this demand and to support continued regional economic growth, the MYGP proposes additional investments, including new substations, to create more capacity and fix configuration constraints.
• Accelerating growth of renewable energy through cost-effective investments in infrastructure that simplify and speed up interconnection of solar and wind to the ComEd system. ComEd’s Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS), one of the nation’s first software platforms that provides forecasting, monitoring, control, and integration of solar and wind, makes it easier for developers to identify optimal locations for projects and enables ComEd to better manage the unpredictable nature of solar and wind. There are currently more than 1.4 gigawatts (GW) of distributed solar generation interconnected to the ComEd system, up from 1 GW in 2024.
• Supporting the clean energy transition by aligning investments to support the development of more residential and commercial solar projects, battery storage, high-efficiency heat pumps, and other technology that relies on a multi-directional grid, one that will manage the influx and outflow of power from numerous sources. ComEd’s investments in advanced grid management and communications, digital controls and new analytic systems will help meet growing customer demand and Illinois’ clean energy goals.
• Sustain nation-leading reliability performance through the design, installation, and implementation of advanced technology. ComEd’s fiber-based communications program provides a foundation for a safe, secure, flexible, and resilient electric grid that can produce data insights, enable smart city applications, and enhance value for ComEd customers through expanded use of Distribution Automation (DA), which automatically routes power around potential problems on the grid. ComEd is also leveraging predictive analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to better prepare for impacts from increasingly severe weather.

MYGP Balances Critical Grid Needs with Affordability

ComEd arrived at this plan by assessing critical grid needs and balancing them with the imperative of maintaining customer affordability. ComEd evaluates affordability with a goal of ensuring that customers’ total home energy costs do not exceed 3% of the average household income for non-electric space heat customers or 6% for space heat customers – a standard approved by the ICC. Based on the investments and expenses planned for the 2028-2031 MYGP, ComEd projects that the average residential customer would devote 1.47% of their household income to electricity costs in 2028 and 1.56% by 2031. The plan dovetails with other ComEd programs, such as the recently announced Low Income Discount, to help customers manage their energy costs.

The most recent benchmarking from the Edison Electric Institute reveals that ComEd electric rates ranked among the most competitive in the nation for 2025. ComEd’s average residential rates of 15.34 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) remained at 22% below average residential rates of 20.26 cents per kWh in the nation’s Top 20 Metropolitan markets and 1% below the U.S. average residential rate of 16.14 cents per kWh. ComEd improved to 7% below the average residential rate for other Midwest utilities of 16.53 cents per kWh. Currently, ComEd’s total average monthly residential bill is $106.

To help customers struggling to pay, ComEd continues to deliver expanded levels of financial assistance. In 2025, ComEd provided 220,000 customers with $108 million in assistance, including the first-ever Customer Relief Fund, which provided $10 million to customers in need. ComEd also announced that more than $803 million will be returned to customers this year from nuclear plants. The company continues to expand the impact of its nation-leading energy assistance program, reaching $12 billion in savings for customers last year, and growing.

The ICC will render its decision on ComEd’s MYGP by the end of this year following an 11-month open process during which regulators, consumer and environmental groups review the plan. While this Grid Plan does not include rates, the investments outlined in the Plan would be estimated to increase the average monthly residential customer bill by about $2.50 to $3.00 annually starting in 2028, with similar adjustments in subsequent plan years, not including reductions from ComEd’s income-qualified customer assistance programs. A separate rate filing will take place in January 2027.

ComEd is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ: EXC), a Fortune 200 energy company serving more than 10.7 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, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, and YouTube.

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Source: ComEd