Programs can bring financial relief to customers following sub-freezing temperatures that drive increased energy use

Following two periods of sub-freezing temperatures over the past two weeks, households and businesses across northern Illinois may have had to significantly increase their energy use, which could result in higher-than-expected bills for some customers. To help them navigate the situation, ComEd reminds customers that a variety of financial assistance programs are available and urges customers to contact the energy company immediately if they face difficulty paying their electric bills.

“ComEd is committed to ensuring all our customers have access to safe and reliable electricity to power their needs all year round, even in the bitter cold,” said Melissa Washington, ComEd’s Chief Customer Officer and Senior Vice President of Customer Operations. “To do that, we look to connect customers to a wide range of programs that can help families pay their energy bills now, as well as options that can help them manage energy use to lower bills in the future.”

To make it easier for families and individuals to find bill-assistance and energy-savings options that best fit their needs, ComEd encourages customers to use its Smart Assistance Manager (SAM), an online self-service tool that matches customers with programs that can help them manage their electric bills now and into the future. Customers can access SAM at ComEd.com/SAM to find more information on any of the following options.

Residential bill-assistance options

• Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) which, in Illinois, provides a one-time grant, per program year, with no payback required, based on a household's income and size. To qualify, a customer's annual household income cannot exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty income guidelines which, for a family of four, is $4,625 a month.
• Payment arrangements of up to 12 months for eligible residential customers with past-due balances. Make a down payment on the amount owed and pay the rest through installments in addition to your regular monthly bill.
• Due Date Extensions of up to 21-days of a customer’s due date.
• Budget billing, which provides a predictable monthly payment based on your electricity usage from the last 12 months.
• Deposit and late-payment charge waivers for one year to income-eligible customers, along with the return of any current deposit.
• High-usage alerts, which enable customers to receive alerts when their usage is trending higher than normal to help manage overall energy use, and energy-management tips to help customers manage energy use to save money now and on future energy bills.
• Catch Up and Save is a two-part program that provides monthly credits to an eligible customer’s bill to eliminate past-due balances, as well as a free, energy-savings kit – which includes home products designed to help lower home energy use while supplies last – to help families save on future energy bills.
• Fresh Start Services provides customers with both online and person-to-person support to help customers become aware of and navigate the options available to manage bills and energy use. This program also offers customers tools that will alert them when their energy use is trending higher than usual and help them be aware of financial-assistance options for which they may be eligible.
• Credit Empowerment provides one-on-one support to help individuals improve their credit scores. In collaboration with Working Credit, the program provides an overview of how the credit system works, helps participants create a personalized credit action plan to help them improve their specific credit situation, and provides information on ComEd energy-efficiency offerings to the customer that will help the customer manage their energy use and energy bills.

To help customers manage energy usage and lower future bills, ComEd’s energy efficiency program includes services and incentives to help income-eligible residential customers reduce energy use now and in the long term. Since 2008, the award-winning ComEd Energy Efficiency Program has helped hundreds of thousands of families and businesses across northern Illinois save money, energy and the environment. To date, the program has helped customers save a total of $8.75 billion on their energy bills, as well as a total of 79 million megawatt-hours of electricity, which is enough energy to power more than nine million ComEd customers’ homes for one year.

ComEd is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ: EXC), a Fortune 250 energy company with approximately 10 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, X, Instagram and YouTube.

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