Dive Summary:
- The Chicago-based Commonwealth Edison Co.(ComEd) did not meet key reliability standards in 2012 required by the state’s 2011 smart grid law. But the utility will not suffer the financial penalty the law sets forth for failure to meet reliability standards.
- According to ComEd’s report recently submitted to the Illinois Commerce Commission, it took ComEd 95 minutes on average to restore service, after discounting the nine worst weather days of the year. Enforceable this year, the law requires the utility to restore power within 91.5 minutes on average to avert a reduction in its rates.
- But 2012 was an improvement from 2011, when one of the worst storm seasons led to ComEd’s average restoration time of 146 minutes.
From the article:
“Under the 2011 smart grid law, ComEd was allowed to increase delivery rates annually over a decade in order to finance a $2.6 billion grid modernization program aimed in part on improving reliability. At the same time, the statute sets performance standards for overall outages per year, as well as average restoration time. If those aren't met in a given year, ComEd sees its formula-set return on equity reduced, which cuts the rates it can charge”