Mayor Rahm Emanuel and ComEd President and COO Anne Pramaggiore announced today key elements of a $1.1 billion electric system infrastructure investment plan. Under this plan, the portion of ComEd’s electric system that serves Chicago will be modernized, starting this year, creating more than 2,400 jobs for Chicago. ComEd will directly create nearly 1,000 jobs associated with this investment that benefit Chicago, including 350-400 jobs this year.
ComEd’s planned system enhancements in Chicago are being undertaken as a result of the Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act (EIMA) enacted by the Illinois General Assembly this past fall. As authorized by the EIMA, ComEd will inject a total capital investment of $2.6 billion into the Illinois economy, creating 2,000 jobs across ComEd’s northern Illinois service territory at the peak of the program in 2014, about half of which directly benefit Chicago.
The company anticipates that Chicago will benefit from another 1,500 jobs stemming from various programs associated with the bill that are separate from the infrastructure investment program. Among them are new energy efficiency and peak-time rebate programs, distributed generation that will boost the solar rooftop market and new tech start-up companies financed through an economic development fund.
For more information, read the entire press release on the City of Chicago's website.
