For the last three weeks, 30 young women from across the Chicagoland area worked together with ComEd mentors to transform old refrigerators from ComEd’s recycling program into solar-powered, electric race cars. The culmination of their work came on August 12 as six teams of five girls raced their newly transformed fridge cars around the Picasso at the Daley Center to win the Icebox Derby STEM Cup and other prizes. Following a tight and exciting race, team Orange Flare emerged as the winners and they were awarded the STEM Cup. Launched in 2014, ComEd’s Icebox Derby is designed to educate and empower young women to explore opportunities in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). “We developed the Icebox Derby to expose young women to a unique STEM experience and learn from ComEd mentors about their journey to a STEM-focused career” said Anne Pramaggiore, president and CEO of ComEd. “Working together, they’ve done amazing work to prepare for the Icebox Derby race. We’re hoping that these young women will be inspired by this experience, the work of their mentors and team members and continue on a STEM pathway, and one day come back to work for ComEd. They are our workforce of the future.”

Chloe x Halle, sisters and an R&B duo recently signed to Beyonce’s record label, served as the emcees of the event. Icebox Derby cars are made of old refrigerators from ComEd’s Fridge and Freezers Recycling program. Old refrigerators can consume as much as four times more energy than newer models and could cost up to $150 a year in electricity. ComEd’s Fridge and Freezer Recycling program will pick up customers old, working fridge or freezer for FREE, recycle it in an environmentally responsible way, plus send the customer a check for $50. More than 339,000 refrigerators and freezers have been recycled through this program.  For more information about ComEd’s fridge recycling program, please visit www.comed.com/WaysToSave.