Electric Utility Restructuring Benefits the Illinois Economy
Since January 1, 2001, all commercial and industrial businesses in Illinois have been able to select an electricity provider of their choice as part of legislation passed in 1997 that set restructuring of the Illinois utility industry in motion. Businesses have many competitive electricity supply options available to them which offers a tremendous advantage over neighboring Midwestern states that do not allow electricity choice. ComEd continues to safely and reliably deliver electricity to end users regardless of whom they select as their energy supplier. Visit the Illinois Commerce Commission for additional information on utility restructuring.
Customer choice is also having a huge impact on the electricity generation market. More than 8,800 MW's of new capacity from 24 different facilities (in addition to the region's existing 20,000 MW capacity) has been added in Northern Illinois since 1999. ComEd’s former nuclear generating facilities in Illinois are now owned and operated by Exelon Generation. These zero emission facilities operate at some of the highest capacity factors in the industry at over 93%. ComEd’s former fossil fuel generating facilities were sold to independent operators in the late 1990’s.
ComEd joined the PJM Interconnection in 2004 which further enhances reliability and offers more competitive supply options to Northern Illinois businesses. PJM is the largest independent regional transmission operator in the world. The PJM operating area stretches from the Mississippi River to the East coast and serves 51 million people. Businesses located within the PJM system have access to an installed generation capacity of 135,000 MW.