CHICAGO, July 15 /PRNewswire/ -- ComEd today announced the Village of Schaumburg was selected as the winner of the ComEd Community Energy Challenge, an innovative pilot program designed to help municipalities in the ComEd service territory develop and implement cost-effective energy efficiency pilot projects to support municipal sustainability objectives.
The village, which will receive a $100,000 cash prize, was one of nine municipalities that participated in the Challenge. The other municipalities were Aurora, Carol Stream, Elgin, Evanston, Hoffman Estates, Oak Park, Orland Park and Wilmette.
Collectively, these municipalities developed energy efficiency programs that helped save 34,965,593 kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy and reduced CO2 emissions by 25,541 Mt, or the equivalent to the energy used by 2,000 homes each year, or taking 4,669 cars off the road for one year.
"ComEd congratulates the Village of Schaumburg and thanks all participating municipalities for demonstrating such an outstanding commitment to sustainability," said Val R. Jensen, vice president, Marketing and Environmental Programs, ComEd. "We were extremely pleased with the creativity and enthusiasm shown by our community partners, and look forward to finding more ways to work with communities to deliver the benefits of energy efficiency to our customers."
The plan created by the Village of Schaumburg provided grants to residents and businesses for efficiency improvements; upgraded computer equipment at its municipalities; improved the efficiency of Village streetlights and traffic signals; and communicated to large businesses through brochures, newsletters and presentations concerning energy reduction. In addition, Schaumburg's school water conservation challenge and fire station efficiency upgrades helped save nearly 900,000 gallons of water.
"The Village of Schaumburg is proud to participate in the ComEd energy challenge. I urge citizens to start making positive changes today. Energy efficient initiatives will save you money and is good for our environment," said Village President Al Larson. "The village was able to creatively leverage funding for all sustainability projects so that no village funds were used for project implementation."
ComEd, along with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), provided a $3.65 million energy efficiency reserve to allow the participating communities to implement projects that delivered cost-effective and verifiable energy efficiency savings in both the private and public sector. In addition, ComEd, DCEO and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus (MMC) provided program design and technical assistance to the communities throughout the Challenge.
"ComEd is an industry leader in driving environmental awareness and actions. Our energy efficiency programs empower customers to save money and help them reduce their impact on the environment," said Anne Pramaggiore, president and COO, ComEd.
The Community Energy Challenge is part of ComEd's Smart Ideas(sm) portfolio of energy efficiency programs and supports Exelon 2020, a comprehensive strategy announced earlier this year by Exelon, ComEd's parent company, to reduce, offset or displace more than 15 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emitted by its family of companies and customers.
Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation , one of the nation's largest electric utilities with approximately 5.4 million customers and more than $15 billion in annual revenues. ComEd provides service to approximately 3.8 million customers across Northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state's population.
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