ComEd briefs Evanston panel on reliability, capacity planning and incentives

Godwin Aitira, manager of Reliability for ComEd's North Region, told an Evanston utilities panel that the company tracks outages using a System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAFEI) and is seeing lower interruption frequency in the city. "But you can see last year, it was, 0.62," Aitira said, citing ComEd's internal reporting and five‑year trend charts.

Aitira said vegetation was the leading cause of outages in 2024 and that ComEd inspected and trimmed "roughly 60 miles of feeders we assessed and we trimmed" to reduce tree‑related interruptions. He described investments in automation, reclosers and line sensors intended to shorten outage durations and enable more rapid, sometimes automatic, restoration when transient faults occur.

Committee members pressed ComEd on capacity planning as buildings electrify. Aitira said the company uses a separate capacity planning team that performs annual and five‑year reviews and evaluates requests as they arise: developers and customers should notify ComEd early so the utility can assess whether feeders, stations or targeted upgrades will be required. ComEd staff emphasized they do not preemptively overbuild the system but will invest where loading forecasts and interconnection requests indicate a need.

Tony Garza, of Resource Innovations, who said his firm is contracted by ComEd to lead outreach, summarized ComEd's state‑administered energy‑efficiency programs. Garza described three common paths for municipalities and businesses: instant point‑of‑sale discounts, a standard offering with pre‑application review for larger projects and a small‑business offering for customers under 500 kW. He said standard incentives typically cover about "30 to 60%" of project costs and small‑business incentives are often higher; seasonal "kick‑start" bonuses can increase incentive amounts for timely applicants.

Garza described complementary services including facility assessments, a Business Energy Analyzer tool that uses a customer's account number and ZIP code, and retro‑commissioning support. He warned participants they cannot claim overlapping incentives for the same kilowatt‑hour savings ("no double dipping") and noted some installers must hold state certification. For municipal projects, Garza offered to help navigate bidding and procurement steps.

On renewables, ComEd representatives clarified that ComEd does not own generation and that energy procurement and mixes are managed through the Illinois Power Agency and regional transmission organizations. Staff pointed committee members to publicly available interconnection and distributed generation maps to evaluate potential placements for solar or battery projects and noted that community solar, power purchase agreements and renewable energy certificates are off‑site options for entities that cannot host on‑site generation.

The presentation concluded with an offer to provide slide decks and follow‑up materials to staff and a suggestion that ComEd's capacity‑planning team return for a deeper briefing if the committee wishes. The panel did not take any municipal policy votes during this portion; the presentation was informational and followed by Q&A.