The agreement means ComEd will be able to power its facilities with 100 percent clean energy produced at the same time and place it is consumed, in a ‘first’ for an investor-owned U.S. utility.

The ComEd agreement follows a similar hourly-matching agreement between Constellation and Microsoft to power one of the latter’s Virginia data centers with nearly 100 percent nuclear energy. In 2022, Constellation and Microsoft developed a analytics-based software solution to help companies match their energy use every hour of the day with locally produced carbon-free electricity, with Microsoft becoming the first customer to use the technology.

Many organizations aiming for net-zero emissions currently purchase annual renewable energy certificates (RECs), representing clean energy generated by solar or wind facilities within the U.S. over a year. However, this approach often means energy comes from distant locations and times, even though operations are nearby.

In 2021, the White House issued an Executive Order recognizing the significance of hourly carbon-free energy matching in achieving clean energy goals. The order directed federal agencies to collaborate to ensure that 50% of all federal buildings use hourly matching with clean energy by 2030.

“Matching clean energy production to the time and place a customer uses it is the only way we will truly achieve zero carbon emissions across our economy,” said Joe Dominguez, President and CEO of Constellation.

Chicago-headquartered ComEd’s hourly purchase of carbon-free energy will match its expected electricity consumption of approximately 65,000 megawatt-hours. This consumption includes the company’s corporate and regional headquarters, reporting centers, business offices, training facilities, special-use facilities and substations.

The “Power Up Academy” began recruiting in July for a 10-week training program to prepare residents for entry-level technical roles that support engineering teams.

The program aims to scale the energy workforce to meet demand for talent in the clean energy sector, including those required to maintain and operate the grid. As many as 150,000 new clean energy jobs are expected to be created in Illinois by 2050 to support the clean energy transition, according to company statement.

The program seeks to recruit and train local residents for entry-level technical roles at ComEd and external engineering firms, including Design Techs, Engineering Associates, and Project Coordinators among others. These roles develop construction drawings and material requirements for projects associated with utility infrastructure installation, removal or modification. They also support field engineering teams, providing engineering designs and supporting project managers. Trainees who complete the program are expected to have the opportunity to apply for roles at ComEd, as well as with engineering firms sponsoring the program, including Burns & McDonnell, HBK Engineering, KDM Engineering, Milhouse, Primera Engineers, V3 Companies, and Sargent & Lundy.

Candidates must be 18 and pass a selection process conducted by Revolution Workshop, a ComEd partner in the program. 

ComEd and co-sponsoring engineering firms developed program curriculum. Participants are expected to receive field-based study with classes held at Revolution Workshop, located on the near west side of Chicago. Through the program, participants will be exposed to core requirements of technical roles in the energy and utilities sector, including program management and AutoCAD, a software program used by architects, engineers and construction professionals to create 2D and 3D drawings. At the end of training, participants will receive an OSHA 10 certification.

ComEd offers other job training and apprenticeship programs, including the Craft Academy, the Dawson Tech Overhead Electrical Line Workers training program, and the CONSTRUCT Youth Academy to expose high school students to trades pathways.

Dozens of utilities have announced policies to suspend service disconnections or late-payment fees. Many, if not all, are encouraging non-critical function employees to work from home. The critical employees are those working at power plants, on the T&D system and in customer service.

Among many others, American Electric Power, ComEd, Bonneville Power Administration, Duke Energy, Entergy, FirstEnergy, PPL Corp. announced new policies trying to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus and its potential financial devastation. These moves come as businesses close around the nation and stock markets plunge.

BPA, which generates hydropower in the Pacific Northwest, announced that all of its public events would be “virtual” through at least May 1. DTE Energy, based in Detroit, released a statement saying it was suspending shutoffs for non-payment and extending its senior winter protection program through May 3.

The Energy and Policy Institute (EPI) is tracking which utilities are suspending electricity and water disconnects for non-paying customers amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

This is the story around the nation and, no doubt, elsewhere in the world. Power providers are stepping up in the public good, for as long as it takes.

Here’s hoping it doesn’t have to last too long.

Rod Walton, Content Director, Power Engineering and POWERGEN International.

It’s enough to keep utility executives awake at night.

Power sector transformation is a nice catchphrase, but it’s a time-consuming, thorny and irresistible matter for those who must keep the electricity running. Commonwealth Edison President and COO Terry Donnelly visited with Power Engineering recently to discuss some of these timely challenges.

Donnelly grew up in a utility family and has spent a large part of his career with the company. He has been president since 2018.

ComEd, a Chicago-based utility within the Exelon Corp. family, is Illinois’ biggest electricity provider with more than 4 million customers. It takes its power from the competitive PJM market.

Eight years and about $2.6 billion later, ComEd has nearly completed the first phase of its grid modernization plan. Those improvements include advanced metering infrastructure, T&D upgrades and next-gen control technologies.

The result, he said, is eight consecutive years of performance improvement on metrics such as outage duration, outage frequency and energy efficiency while incorporating more and more carbon-free energy, whether it’s nuclear or renewables.

It’s been successful, but it ain’t been busy.

“We’re trying to transform a power grid, especially one as complex and vast as ComEd…and trying to do that while it’s working,” Donnelly told Power Engineering. “You are arm wrestling and investing that energized grid into the future.”

Keeping the lights on while inviting a rising portion penetration of renewables and combating weather changes requires real-time situational awareness, which in turn requires a whole new set of digital tools from what Donnelly’s forebearers possessed.

“We’ve improved reliability 70 percent, and 2019 was the best on record,” he noted. Even so, the system still requires countless upgrades for poles and wires to withstand a more dramatic weather environment.

This is one way that ComEd is looking into the future, Donnelly said. Others include investing in next-gen, decentralized energy options such as microgrids and, perhaps more importantly, putting stock in the next generation of a potential workforce.

For the latter, ComEd offers numerous Chicago-area programs reaching out to all students, with special emphasis on STEM education for minorities and women. The company offers a Solar Spotlight, an Icebox Derby solar-powered race, the Dawson Tech training program for future linemen and an energy academy at Dunbar Vocational High School in the Bronzeville neighborhood.

“It’s absolutely critical,” Donnelly said, noting the “premium on having a workforce development program in line with the suite of technology investments.”

And it’s not just serendipity that ComEd has placed its truly unique Bronzeville Microgrid Cluster project in that area. Bronzeville, a collaborative effort including U.S. Department of Energy support and the Illinois Institute of Technology, has several microgrids which will be ultimately connected with an array of utility-owned energy storage, utility-scale and rooftop solar, as well as on-site power.

The microgrid is an intriguing concept to mission-critical services such as public safety and hospitals, but it is not without significant headwinds both in financial and technical feasibility terms. ComEd and Illinois Tech are achieving significant progress with their microgrids and also dealing with the challenges.

Phase two is coming with the promise of full islanding capabilities, Donnelly noted. Islanding allows electrical service to continue within a microgrid even if the utility system is otherwise down or disconnected.

And this is where the roads of grid advancement and community outreach intersect each other. Having a microgrid cluster in Bronzeville provides a “living laboratory” for cutting-edge electricity technologies that is accessible to young students interested in STEM careers.

ComEd is learning more about microgrid interaction even as students are. Donnelly is good with that.

“They can’t be just technical investments anymore,” he said. “They have to be in the community where you’re hoping to nurture the benefits of technology.”

(Rod Walton is content director for Power Engineering and POWERGEN International happening December 8-10 in Orlando, Florida. He can be reached at 918-831-9177 and rod.walton@clarionevents.com).

The ACEEE’s latest Utility Scorecard ranked two of the Bay State’s utilities together at the top of the list. Eversource Energy and National Grid Massachusetts were co-No. 1s for the second time in the energy efficiency ranking’s four-year history.

The ACEEE report researchers took time to study the utilities’ energy efficiency programs and results for all of 2018. Eversource and National Grid achieved energy savings of 3.1 percent and 3.7, respectively, as a percentage of energy sales. The two also tied atop the list in 2017.

The 52 utilities listed in the ACEEE Scorecard saved close to 20 TWh of energy in 2018 through more than 900 efficiency and savings programs, according to the report. Total energy savings by the top ranking utilities increased 20 percent over 2015 results.

San Diego Gas & Electric ranked third and Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) was fourth. ComEd’s Exelon corporate cousin utility Baltimore Gas & Electric shared fifth place with Pacific Gas & Electric.

ACEEE’s top 10 was rounded out by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), DTE Energy, Portland General Electric and Eversource Connecticut.

LADWP and Consumers Energy were the most improved utilities efficiency-wise compared to the previous year. Consumers Energy ranked 11^th and Xcel Minnesota was 12^th.

Eight of the top 10 utilities rated by ACEEE were based on either the east or west coasts. Chicago-based ComEd and Detroit-based DTE were the only midwestern utilities ranked highly.

No southeastern states were ranked in ACEEE’s top 20. The highest was Entergy Arkansas tied at 21 with AEP Ohio.

The report noted that 37 of the 52 named utilities were adopting greenhouse gas reduction goals at some level. Nineteen of those utilities scoring at the bottom half of the ACEEE’s scorecard have carbon goals, but need to ramp up energy efficiency efforts, it concluded.

“Energy efficiency is a critical tool for meeting these goals, and high savings can indicate that utilities are considering energy efficiency as a core element in their plans to reduce emissions,” the report read.

Many utilities are beginning to offer new programs or tools such as smart thermostats, online marketplaces for energy-efficient products, advanced metering infrastructure and distributed energy resources such as demand response and energy storage.

ACEEE was a nonprofit formed in 1980 and features dozens of energy researchers and analysts. Its research advisory board includes veterans from federal regulatory agencies, corporations, higher education and environmental advocacy groups.

Maryland-based CPV, known for building numerous gas-fired power plants in the U.S., will oversee work on the 150-MW Maple Hill solar facility in Portage and Summerhill Townships. Construction could begin by the end of this year.

“As a leader who makes job creation and business investment top priorities, I enthusiastically welcomed CPV’s $1 billion investment that created (the gas-turbine combined cycle) Fairview Energy Center in Jackson Township,” said Pennsylvania State Rep. Frank Burns. “The continued partnership between good government and private investment is bringing further good news to Cambria County, in the form of the Maple Hill project.”
This announcement of Maple Hill follows the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s recent decision to expand the Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR), which provides a solid ground for new infrastructure investment, including renewable development, and safeguards the competitiveness of the markets, according to CPV.
Maple Hill is one of the first solar projects of its kind in western Pennsylvania. Located on already cleared timber property, the Maple Hill facility will avoid over 150,000 tons of CO2 per year by displacing older, less efficient generation and will add to the clean energy mix in the Commonwealth. The project will employ 150 to 200 workers at peak construction and will bring significant tax benefits to Cambria County.
“CPV’s mission of modernizing U.S. power generation means we are making significant investments in renewables and highly efficient, flexible natural gas generation to create the electric grid of the future,” said Sean Finnerty, Executive Vice President of CPV. “I’m proud of the wide scope of CPV’s efforts and the progress we are charting in the power generation sector to reduce emissions while maintaining grid reliability. Maple Hill exemplifies our commitment to providing safe, reliable, cost-effective and environmentally-responsible power and will have a significant positive impact on the Pennsylvania energy sector.”

CPV has built numerous electricity generating facilities and manages more than 9.3 GW of fossil and renewable energy sites in eight states. It also has ownership interest in 4.2 GW of clean generation.

ComEd held its fifth annual Solar Spotlight program this month. More than 90 local high schools participated in the event, which both highlights renewable technology but also explores the STEM training and job opportunities for black students using hands-on projects.

“We use innovation and inclusivity to help solve problems in our communities, power our society and shape the future of our planet,” said Joe Dominguez, CEO of ComEd. “Our youth are our most valuable resource as we take on new challenges in a changing world. Solar Spotlight is designed to empower students in their STEM interests and be a force for positive impact in the world.”

The high school students worked alongside STEM professionals, including ComEd engineers and executives, to learn about solar energy technology and participate in hands-on activities to see its real-world application. On Saturday, they built solar cells to power miniature streetlights at the ComEd Training Center in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood.

Dominquez and Candice Smith, engineering director with Boeing, shared their stories with the students. Dominguez previously has noted that ComEd has spent $3.3 billion with certified diverse suppliers. ComEd also will hold a student STEM event this Saturday, February 15.

While demand for STEM professionals is growing in Illinois, African-Americans remain underrepresented in the STEM workforce. In 2018, African-Americans held less than 5 percent of STEM jobs in Illinois, despite making up more than 14 percent of the state’s population, according to the Illinois Science & Technology Coalition.

More than 200 students have participated in the ComEd Solar Spotlight program for Black History Month over the past four years. It is the first in a series of STEM programs that ComEd leads each year.

In the summer, ComEd’s Icebox Derby will challenge Chicagoland girls to turn recycled fridges into electric racecars, and in September, ComEd will host a second Solar Spotlight program during Hispanic Heritage Month.

Butler has held the job of Exelon Utilities CEO on an interim basis since October 15. He was promoted after previous Utilities CEO Anne Pramaggiore abruptly resigned amidst a federal investigation into Chicago-based Exelon’s lobbying with the Illinois legislature, according to reports.

Butler also will work as senior executive vice president of the parent Exelon. Carim Khouzami, currently senior vice president and chief operating officer of Exelon Utilities, will replace Butler as CEO of BGE.

Both appointments are effective immediately.

“With this strong leadership team in place, Exelon Utilities will continue to drive innovation and deliver the best possible results for our customers and the communities we serve,” said Christopher M. Crane, president and CEO of Exelon. “Calvin and Carim are part of a deep bench of talented industry leaders who are building Exelon’s next-generation energy grid with a focus on sustainability, resiliency and reliability.”

In his new role, Butler will oversee Exelon’s six local electric and gas companies — Atlantic City Electric, BGE, ComEd, Delmarva Power, PECO and Pepco. Together, they form the nation’s largest utility company by customer count, serving approximately 10 million electric and gas customers in New Jersey, Maryland, Illinois, Delaware, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia, respectively. He will remain a resident of Baltimore and work out of Exelon’s D.C. offices.

Exelon Corp. announced it was acquiring Pepco Holdings—which included Atlantic City Electric, DelMarva and Pepco—in 2014. The $6.8 billion merger was completed in 2016.

It’s the entry and exit point for ships on global commercial voyages to and from the U.S. It has great ties to the transport of agriculture and energy.

All of these points, but especially the last one, make it a great spot to host POWERGEN International next week. The event has enjoyed and gained much from its usual destinations of Orlando and Las Vegas, but coming to New Orleans for the first time in 12 years is a rare treat.

As the Cajuns and the Cars sometimes say, let the good times roll, but mind your Ps and Qs in the Crescent City. We made that last part up, but it holds true that New Orleans offers an A to Z of food, music and fun opportunities. You just need to keep it between the buoys, boys and girls.

Below is a somewhat orderly alphabet soup of what POWERGEN means when it hits town this week. Consider this some “lagniappe,” or what locals sometime say to mean “a little something extra.”

A is for Archie Manning, the New Orleans legend and football hall of famer who will be POWERGEN’s keynote speaker on Tuesday. Come prepared for stories on family, leadership, his own career, overcoming tragedy and, yes, his famous quarterback sons.

B is for Better Balance, the Wednesday luncheon where great women in the power sector will be honored. It could be also be Boiler Code and Beignets, sponsored by exhibitor Clark-Reliance to give plant pros and partners a chance to mingle over coffee, powered sugar pasties and the latest in industry standards.

C is Conventional Power and Coal-Fired Generation, as in the present and future of both. POWERGEN will offer no less than five summits and hubs devoted to these subjects.

D is for Decentralized Energy. Yes, the event has plenty of power plant operations sessions, but it is also strong in energy storage breakthroughs, microgrids and on-site power. If it generates, we venerate.

E is for Entergy Corp., POWERGEN’s host utility. Entergy not only welcomes more than 10,000 attendees to its hometown of New Orleans, but it also is contributing a Wednesday keynote speaker in COO Paul Hinnenkamp, other session speakers and tours of its St. Charles gas-fired plant and solar-storage pilot project.

F is for the French Quarter. Take a little stroll and you’ll be there in no time. The best in food, music and people watching. But F could also for the Floor, as in the 180,000-square-foot exhibit space featuring more than 800 companies, six Knowledge Hubs and plenty of networking-meeting space through our MATCH! and Connect offerings.

G is for Gas, the fastest growing part of the electricity generation mix. POWERGEN has a Natural Gas Knowledge Hub featuring technical content but also forward-looking talks on the LNG potential impact to global power generation. Upstairs it will also have the summit track on Gas-fired Turbines and Plants.

H is for Hydrogen. Is it the next, carbon-free chapter in the turbine power story? Presenters from major power firms will talk about electrolysis and hydrogen in various sessions, while the Italian Trade Agency also will sponsor a special session Tuesday on “The Future of Hydrogen and the Power Industry.”

I is for Initiate! POWERGEN is proud to have hundreds of established industry companies involved, but also wants to be a breeding ground for startups. Eight of them will be vying Tuesday for the favor of expert judges in Booth 800. Who are the next innovators first made known here? The Initiate! winners will be revealed on Wednesday.

J is for Jazz. You’ll find plenty of that in clubs on Bourbon Street, Frenchman Street and beyond. You might even get to hear it live in the Morial Conventional Center at POWERGEN. Wait and listen.

K is for Knowledge. More than 90 sessions in total, featuring about 130 expert speakers, will be available from Monday through Thursday. We’re talking seven Summit tracks, nearly 70 Knowledge Hub sessions, three Mega-Sessions, three keynote speakers (including Chris Moser, head of operations with NRG Energy), five co-located events involving power generation insiders from close to a dozen nations. Throw in POWERGEN University on Monday, and you’ve got approximately 100 hours of content from which to choose. Maybe K should also stand for Komprehensive…but we’d be getting off track from the spelling lesson.

L is for Large-scale. No other annual power generation conference details as many utility-level projects and viewpoints as POWERGEN. Whether it’s a revived gas-fired plant in south Texas or an enormous microgrid for a pork processing plant in Mexico, or a microgrid cluster in Chicago …or… cycling the modern coal-fired plant, the case studies go big before going home.

M is for Mega-sessions. POWERGEN has three: 1) A look at microgrid opportunities and challenges Wednesday afternoon, featuring Duke Energy, ComEd and Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories; 2) capital project trends and overview from Industrial Info Resources, focused on energy and power plants; and 3) an “Across All Sectors” high-level view from Black & Veatch, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems and Ameresco. These leaders will offer insights on gas-fired power, energy storage, EPC trends and more.

N is for Networking. Meet and greet is its own industry at POWERGEN. Any visitor can walk around the exhibit floor and be captivated, almost overwhelmed, by all the conversations going on, and yet there’s more in MATCH!, Networking on Tap receptions, Powerful Young Professionals Happy Hour, the Contractors Crawl, Breakfast Roundtables, the aforementioned Lunch for Better Balance, and the Tuesday party at Mardi Gras World, sponsored by POWERGEN parent Clarion Energy. Mardi Gras World is where the floats get made. It’s big time.

O is for Optimizing Plant Performance and On-Site Power, two of the biggest reasons for having POWERGEN in the first place. These Summit tracks offer sessions focused on O&M challenges, best practices, innovation, combined heat and power and much more.

P is for Purpose. No, that’s not the catchy or corny name of a program, but the very heart of why people come to the event. Meeting potential clients, firming up new partnerships, renewing old friendships and learning the latest in the industry they love—that’s why people come to POWERGEN.

Q is for Quality. Sensing a theme here lately? This is what attendees aim for, whether it’s better air and water, power efficiency, capacity factors, safety, data and service.  Getting to know high-quality people is a net win, too.

R is for Renewables. POWERGEN has long been focused on conventional power, but it also sees the future. Wind and solar capacity is growing by hundreds of GW as much of the world races to reduce or limit carbon emissions in the wake of climate change. POWERGEN will have Knowledge Hub sessions in onshore and offshore wind, as well as solar content. Meanwhile, the nearby Hydropower Hub will offer two days of deep dives into the original renewable energy resource.

S is for Social Media. #POWERGEN19. Hashtag, you’re it. Know it. Love it. Use it. Please.

T is for Turbines. They still make much of the world go round, folks. Industry giants Siemens, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Doosan Heavy Industries, Ansaldo Energia and GE all will be involved, either as presenters or exhibitors or both.

U is for Utilities. Close to 100 power generators will be sending people to New Orleans. More than 30 will be speakers from utilities such as Southern Co., Duke, Avista, Cleco. Entergy, ComEd, NRG, Salt River Project and many more. U is also for Universities. This may be Unprecedented for POWERGEN, offering energy sessions from experts at Tulane, New Orleans and Texas Tech University. Class is in session soon.

V is for Voices. Many will be heard in the Morial Convention Center hallways, in exhibit booths, Summit rooms, Hubs and restaurants. And they will be talking about how to make the power generation sector ever better, cleaner, more reliable and vibrant. Later they’ll be talking about where to get drinks and dinner… and making the power better. Dialogue is good.

W is for Wind. This is the utility-scale renewable energy growing at the fastest rate. Happy to have Southwestern Electric Power Co., Mercom Capital, Enel Green Power, Black & Veatch, National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium, National Ocean Industries Association, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, Wood, Ameresco and Synergy Project Solutions.

X is for ….well, this is a difficult one. X marks the spot but it doesn’t start a whole lot of words, except xylophone. OK, X is the Roman numeral for 10, such as the number of companies which are POWERGEN’s top-level sponsors. FPT Powertrain Technologies, AECOM, Power Solutions International-Weichai, Aska Power Generation, Black & Veatch, ABB, Uniper, Travelers Alliance Group, John Cockerill and the Italian Trade Agency. We think they are pretty Xcellent.

Y is for Y ask Y? What happens in New Orleans stays in New Orleans… Just kidding. Be safe and smart.

Z is for Zydeco, because in New Orleans, well, it all comes back to music. Jazz is better known, but this combination of piano, accordion and washboard rhythms can also be found at various clubs within the city. And it helps us conclude this journey through the alphabet. Now you know…

Hope to see you in a few days where we can recite them together again at POWERGEN International.

(Rod Walton is content director for POWERGEN International and Power Engineering. He can be reached at rod.walton@clarionevents.com).

The result of a six-month creative consultation with market-leading Larsen Energy Branding, Enlit is the world’s only complete energy event. It will bring clarity to the global energy transition and define the roles of all those involved in powering the next generation of the industry.

Visitors to Enlit will enjoy a truly inspirational and immersive experience with content created and curated specifically for tomorrow’s new energy professionals; while Enlit exhibitors will have unprecedented access to the people driving the future of the industry and the ability to reach a global audience under one brand.

“The energy transition is defining the way we harness, trade, deploy and use energy, which is changing radically, rapidly and continuously,” said European Utility Week and POWERGEN Europe director Paddy Young.

“From source to generation, to grid to the consumer, the boundaries of the sector are blurring, and this evolution is being shaped by established players, external disruptors, innovative start-ups and the increasingly engaged end-user,” Young said. “Enlit will bring together all of these influencers to seize current opportunities, spotlight future ones, and inspire the next generation to join the journey.”

Clarion Energy Executive Vice President & Global Managing Director Duncan Reid added: “Enlit is a fantastic new brand for what is the most important and comprehensive event portfolio for the global energy industry. Over the next 12 months, we will roll out Enlit across three continents to unify seven brands: Power & Utilities Australia, Australian Utility Week and POWERGEN Australia in Melbourne in August, Asian Utility Week and POWERGEN Asiain Jakarta in September and European Utility Week and POWERGEN Europe in Milan in October.”

Industry support

The power and energy industry has welcomed the new Enlit brand. Enel Foundation, the nonprofit research and education organization created by the Enel Group, which joined forces with Clarion as exclusive Global Knowledge Partner of the Power and Energy event series, also considers Enlit as a platform that will support the energy transition promoting sustainable and resilient development for all.

Carlo Papa, Director of Enel Foundation, said, “In this historical moment for our industry and our planet, getting stakeholders to unite behind accelerating the clean energy transition without leaving anyone behind is a global priority and Enlit perfectly represents this convergence space.”