ComEd to lead $116M project to strengthen Rockford’s power grid and clean-energy future

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — ComEd plans to lead a $116 million initiative over the next five years to strengthen the city’s power grid against severe weather, prepare workers for clean-energy careers and expand the use of carbon-free energy technology such as solar and energy storage.

The utility has received a $50 million federal Department of Energy grant from its Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership program. ComEd will also invest $49.5 million, and an additional $16.5 million will come from various partner organizations.

It’s the largest such grant in the history of Illinois, “and it will be spent right here in Rockford,” said Gil Quiniones, CEO of ComEd.

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The grant was announced Thursday at the Region 1 Planning Council with leadership of ComEd, the Department of Energy, and local and state officials including Gov. JB Pritkzer.

“These funds will not only help ComEd to modernize and decarbonize Rockford’s grid but also to prepare jobseekers for careers in the fast-growing clean energy sector,” Quiniones said. “ComEd is proud to partner on this investment with the U.S. Department of Energy, the state of Illinois and a wide range of Rockford-area organizations with a role in preparing the city’s infrastructure for a cleaner, more electrified, more equitable energy future.”

The work includes hardening the electric grid so it can withstand severe weather, providing new energy management technology so customers can monitor usage and costs, and launching new workforce training and small business resource programs to help build a pipeline of workers in clean-energy fields.

“These are the jobs of the future and Rockford will be the hub of these jobs,” Mayor Tom McNamara said. “This project is about more than infrastructure, it’s about the city of Rockford’s people. It’s about improving the lives of them today and preparing them for the future.

“By the end of this five-year project. Rockford will have one of the most advanced and resilient grid systems in the entire country.”

The project also includes expanding carbon-free technology such as electric vehicle charging, energy storage, solar and vehicle-to-grid charging that allows electric vehicles to send power back to the grid when not in use.

Rockford is part of ComEd’s Community of the Future program, an effort to facilitate the transition to clean energy and resilience to climate change.

The city is already home to six community solar development sites, a Give-a-Ray program to support low-income residents energy costs, and a 34,000-square-foot ComEd training center.

Initiatives like those, city and ComEd leaders said, prime the city for future expansion.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas