ComEd Voltage Optimization Program Supports Growth of DERs in Northern Illinois, Helps Customers Reduce Energy Usage and Costs

More than 1 million MWh of energy saved since VO program launched in 2018

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ComEd last year delivered energy savings of approximately 100,000 megawatt hours (MWh) to customers through voltage optimization (VO), a form of energy efficiency that enhances the operation of appliances and equipment, resulting in reduced energy consumption and lower electricity bills. The energy savings were equivalent to avoiding more than 33,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide or powering more than 11,500 ComEd customer homes for one year. Since its launch in 2018 the VO program has produced energy savings of more than 1 million MWh, which is equivalent to avoiding more than 738 million pounds of carbon dioxide that contribute to climate change.

A combination of advanced software, sensors and storage technology, VO is integrated into the ComEd smart grid to monitor and regulate voltage levels. ComEd upgraded an additional 31 substations in 2024, creating a total of 284 stations operating under VO on ComEd’s distribution system.

“Our voltage optimization program enables us to deliver a more precise level of power to meet the needs of customers, reducing their energy consumption, costs and carbon emissions while helping us proactively identify opportunities that support our reliability goals,” said Mark Baranek, senior vice president of technical services, ComEd. “VO is enabled by our smart grid technology and it’s one of the best investments we can make on behalf of our customers.”

VO is playing a vital role in modernizing substation communications as it replaces legacy equipment on the ComEd system. It can control and consistently lower the voltage range delivered to customers, enabling them to realize energy savings of around 2-3% annually. VO requires no behavioral changes by the customer and has no impact on lifestyle while delivering energy savings across all customer classes.

The ComEd VO program began with an analysis of the entire ComEd distribution system, which identified approximately 400 substations where VO deployment demonstrated the potential to create cost savings for customers. ComEd completed its first VO station activation in 2018 and is projected to complete activation on the initial 400 substations by 2028. Once this first phase of the program is completed, the anticipated annual energy savings is projected to exceed 1,400 gigawatt hours. Based on the average US household energy use of approximately 12 MWh per year, the energy savings projected to be realized by ComEd customers through VO is equivalent to the annual power usage of about 115,000 households.

ComEd has a dedicated VO team, which performs the initial commissioning of new systems and devices and it oversees the entire program. The VO team collaborates with different internal groups, such as Capacity Planning and Energy Efficiency. It also works closely with Distribution Automation (DA), which uses smart switches installed on the electrical grid to automatically reroute electricity around potential problem areas, minimizing the frequency and duration of power outages for customers. In 2024, DA devices avoided over 2.2 million outages on ComEd’s system.

The annual VO planning process reviews and prioritizes stations that will enable the team to meet annual energy savings goals. ComEd also works with several local engineering and construction specialists on the design and implementation of the VO program at the substation and distribution feeder level.

Since its launch in 2008, the ComEd Energy Efficiency Program has helped hundreds of thousands of families and businesses save more than $10 billion on their energy bills. Northern Illinois residential customers interested in taking advantage of any of the ComEd Energy Efficiency Program offerings can view a full list of services, incentives and rebates at ComEd.com/HomeSavings. Offerings for northern Illinois business customers are available at ComEd.com/BizSavings.

ComEd is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ: EXC), a Fortune 200 energy company serving more than 10.5 million electricity and natural gas customers – the largest number of 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, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, and YouTube.