Greening our operations

Exelon operates facilities from high-rise office buildings in major cities to service centers in local communities and power plants in rural areas. To directly demonstrate the feasibility and economic benefits of a low-carbon business strategy, we are working to set the standard for green operations.

Greening our operations is one element of our three-pronged strategy to reduce our carbon footprint.  This strategy will contribute to our goals of Exelon 2020, our comprehensive plan to reduce, offset or displace more than 15 million metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per year by 2020. 

Through Exelon’s “Energy Reduction Challenge” we have set goals to reduce our own building purchased energy consumption by 25% and auxilliary power at our plants by 7% by 2012.  We are also working to reduce GHG emissions from our generation and distribution system, vehicle fleet, warehouse operations and throughout our supply chain.

Exelon 2020 in Action

These and other efforts to green our operations helped us maintain our Energy Reduction Challenge goal to cut energy consumption in commercial buildings by 25% from the 2001 baseline for the second year in a row:

• The Conowingo Visitor Center renovation included a 3.2 kilowatt solar array, earning it LEED-Existing Building Gold Certification.
• Exelon Generation engaged in a significant light replacement program at its power plants, including updating a 45 year-old lighting system at Fairless Hills power plant that resulted in 80% energy savings per year at the facility.
• An environmental questionnaire is now a standard part of sourcing requests for proposals.  This allows Exelon to evaluate the environmental performance of prospective suppliers.
• Both ComEd and PECO were awarded significant stimulus grants to upgrade their vehicle fleets and reduce fuel consumption.

PECO's Crown Lights

The PECO Crown Lights atop the Main Office Building headquarters were updated with the installation of 2 million energy-efficient LEDs (light-emitting diodes) with color capacity--a 40% energy savings.

Reducing Energy Consumption Across our Facilities

By the end of 2010, a collaborative effort across the Exelon family of companies achieved our 25% energy use reduction goal for our commercial facilities and reduced auxiliary power use at our plants by 6% - a reduction of nearly 313,000 metric tons of GHG emissions compared to our 2001 baseline year.  This represents a significant step toward completion of our "Energy Reduction Challenge," as we will strive to maintain or further reduce the 25% purchase power and meet the 7% auxilliary power reduction targets we've set for 2012.

Generation

In 2011, Exelon Generation managed to keep its commercial building energy use 27% lower than the 2001 baseline despite the year's extreme weather.  Exelon Power, a business unit of Exelon Generation, also exceeded its goals for reducing site auxiliary power usage, operating with a 47% reduction from the 2001 baseline in part due to the retirements of generating units at the Cromby and Eddystone facilities.

Delivery

ComEd has reduced energy consumption across its commercial facilities by approximately 33.6%, exceeding its target for 2012. System and process improvements, such as the replacement of Rockford HVAC system, building automation systems at Bolingbrook, Highland Park and Skokie and the Oregon facility closure all contributed to this reduction.

PECO's multi-year LEED certification process for 10 of its largest buildings has yielded a savings of over 18%.  Some of these facilities have reduced electricity and gas usage by 50% and water usage by 40%.  PECO is working towards LEED Existing Building certification of its main office building in Philadelphia by 2014.

Exelon's LEED-Certified Buildings

Facility	Certification	Size
Corporate Headquarters	LEED-Commercial Interior (CI)       Platinum	247,000 sq ft
Chicago City Solar Reception Building	LEED-New Construction (NC) Silver	1,009 sq ft
Clinton Power Station Administration Building	LEED-NC Silver	79,500 sq ft
Conowingo Hydroelectric Plant               Visitor Center	LEED-Existing Building (EB)  Gold	4,864 sq ft
Fairless Hills Renewable Energy Education Center	LEED-CI  Silver	3,970 sq ft
PECO West Chester Service Building	LEED-NC Silver	4,950 sq ft
PECO Berwyn Campus 1040 Building	LEED-EB Silver	21,360 sq ft
PECO Berwyn Campus 1050 Building	LEED-EB Silver	94,463 sq ft
PECO Berwyn Campus 1060 Building	LEED-EB Silver	84,940 sq ft
PECO Phoenixville Service Building	LEED-EB Silver	21,669 sq ft
PECO Warminster Service Building	LEED-EB Gold	97,251 sq ft

 

LEED-Certified Headquarters

In 2009, Exelon Business Services Company expanded its headquarters by 27,000 square feet, increasing its total LEED-Commercial Interiors Platinum certified space to 247,000 square feet and reducing energy consumption by 50%.

Reducing GHG Emissions from our Transmission and Distribution System

Exelon continues to make emissions reductions in its transmission and distribution infrastructure. ComEd and PECO replaced aging circuit breakers and purchased state-of the art leak detection cameras to help reduce SF6. 
SF6 Reductions.  Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is a highly effective insulator used in high-voltage equipment, but it has a GHG impact 23,900 times greater than CO₂ if released to the atmosphere.  Exelon’s SF6 emissions in 2011 continued to reflect an ongoing downward trend.

Both ComEd and PECO achieved their 2011 goals of not exceeding SF6 emissions equivalent to a 7.0% and 7.5% leak rate, respectively.  ComEd's actual leak rate was 0.86% for the year 2010, a result of continued efforts to identify and reduce leakage and the removal of over 50% of the 1st generation breakers, which are older and contain the most SF6.  Both companies have transitioned to the EPA's Mandatory GHG Reporting Rule Subpart DD covering SF6 emissions from electrical equipment, which required reporting of emissions to the EPA starting for calendar year 2011.

Methane Reductions.  The natural gas distributed by PECO is comprised almost entirely of methane gas, which has a global warming potential 21 times that of CO₂.  PECO has made important reductions in its methane emissions from its distribution system as part of Exelon 2020. 

Transmission & Distribution (T&D) Line Losses.  As part of its transition to the TCR protocol, Exelon will begin accounting for indirect GHG emissions associated with PECO’s and ComEd’s transmission and distribution (T&D) line losses. These line losses had been captured as direct emissions from our generation sources, when the electricity we transmitted was primarily self-generated.  However, as the business of electric transmission and distribution has evolved to include more transmission for other generators, line losses associated with electricity produced by other generation companies has been included in our GHG inventory as indirect emissions starting in 2011.    

Greening our Supply Chain

Exelon is working to reduce the environmental impacts of the materials and services we procure, and to encourage the environmental performance of our suppliers.

Environmental Questionnaire. Prospective vendors must now complete an environmental questionnaire as part of doing business with Exelon.  We are also developing a number of environmental standards to be incorporated into our business processes, including standards for transformers, wire and cable, wood poles and the vehicle fleet.

Green Supplier Network.  In conjunction with the EPA, we are conducting 5 Green Supplier Network reviews to assess sustainability opportunities in our suppliers’ manufacturing facilities.

Electric Utility Industry Sustainable Supply Chain Alliance (www.euissca.org).  As one of the founders of the Alliance, Exelon has become a national leader in supply chain environmental management. We helped lead the development of industry standards for evaluating the environmental attributes of key materials and services as well as performance metrics for supplier companies.

Reducing Emissions from our Vehicle Fleet

An important part of greening our operations involves reducing GHG emissions from our fleet of more than 4,400 vehicles that log more than 41 million miles per year.  Both companies actively promote no idling and fuel reduction campaigns, and also continue to use biodiesel as one of their primary vehicle fuels.

PECO’s green fleet comprises 55% of the entire fleet of cars and trucks.  PECO’s alternative-fuel vehicle fleet consists of more than 47 hybrid vehicles, a prototype hybrid bucket truck, 16 compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles and 651 biodiesel trucks.

• Compared to a non-green fleet, these 715 vehicles reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by more than 2,700 metric tons annually. This is the equivalent of removing about 497 cars from the road for a full year.
• PECO is also are actively working with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to help promote the use of CNG as a motor fuel for transportation in Pennsylvania.  PECO owns and operates 6 fast fill Compressed Natural Gas Fueling sites, of which 5 are also open to the general public once an account has been established with Customer Service.

ComEd’s green fleet comprises 68% of its total fleet, including the 2010 additions of 25 hybrid SUVs and eight hybrid bucket trucks.  ComEd continues to invest in reducing vehicle fleet emissions through a number of initiatives and partnerships, including:

• The expansion of its use of alternative fuels and petroleum fuel reduction technologies funded by $4 million in federal economic stimulus grants.  This will include the installation of a “smart” electric vehicle charging infrastructure to prepare Chicagoland for electric vehicles.
• A partnership with the City of Chicago under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Cities Grant program to deploy a network of public and private vehicle smart-charging stations.
• Retrofitting 37 large diesel vehicles with idle reduction technology using a $253,000 award from the Illinois EPA.

ComEd and PECO are also partnering with Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to evaluate plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) trouble trucks and Chevrolet Volts which will include the use of advanced telemetry to collect data on power consumption, fuel usage and other performance metrics as part of the industry’s ongoing research into advanced batteries and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.