Two Awards Highlight Exemplary Recovery Efforts Following July Extreme Weather in Northern Illinois, Assistance Efforts Following Destructive Hurricanes that Hit Southern States
ComEd was recently recognized by the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) as a recipient of two Emergency Response Awards. The Emergency Recovery Award was presented to ComEd for its exemplary recovery efforts in response to severe weather that spawned more than 40 tornadoes in northern Illinois last July, and the Emergency Assistance Award was presented to ComEd in recognition of its assistance efforts restoring service to homes and businesses in the South following Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
"ComEd lineworkers are the best in the business, utilizing their skills and talents to quickly respond to customer outages following severe and destructive weather events both at home and across the country," said David Perez, ComEd executive vice president and COO. "ComEd continues to invest in our people and the grid to ensure we are prepared for increasingly more severe weather caused by climate change. We are grateful for the national recognition of our outstanding recovery and assistance efforts."
"Throughout 2024, America's electric companies and their dedicated workforce answered the call to help restore power and hope to communities impacted by extreme weather events and natural disasters," said EEI interim President and CEO Pat Vincent-Collawn. "EEI commends ComEd for its efforts to respond safely and efficiently to the aftermath of severe weather in northern Illinois. We also applaud ComEd for aiding neighboring electric companies in their times of need. ComEd and its storm response team are extremely deserving of these well-earned emergency recovery and assistance awards."
The first award was earned by ComEd due to efforts in July 2024, when 99 percent of customers were restored in three days following storms that impacted more than 430,000 ComEd customers. The storm included more than 40 confirmed tornadoes, including 10 that were on the ground simultaneously. Included in the damage were lane closures on major interstates and other infrastructure damage in addition to thousands of individual outages affecting customers across northern Illinois. Throughout the restoration process, ComEd remained in close coordination with community leaders and local agencies to identify and expedite repairs.
The second award was earned by ComEd due to outstanding efforts helping other utilities restore power following Hurricanes Helene and Milton. ComEd deployed more than 340 employees to support restoration efforts in four states. Over 24 days, ComEd crews traveled more than 512,000 miles and restored more than 12,600 customers impacted by the storms.
These awards are just the latest accolades earned by ComEd. In November of 2024, in recognition of ComEd's successful efforts to achieve best-in-class reliability, PA Consulting presented the electric company with the 2024 ReliabilityOne® award for Outstanding Reliability Performance in the Midwest Metropolitan Service Area. ComEd also received the Climate Action Leader award for advancing the planning and operations to transition into a cleaner future grid.
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 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.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250109011130/en/
ComEd Media Relations
312-394-3500