ComEd’s work to connect customers in need with bill assistance while also providing temporary, part-time employment to residents from low-income neighborhoods, was recently recognized by utility-industry association Chartwell Inc., one of three awards presented to ComEd and its parent company, Exelon. ComEd won Chartwell’s 2023 Best Practices Bronze Award in the category of Serving Vulnerable Customers for its Community Energy Assistance Ambassador (CEAA) program. The CEAA program, originally launched in 2020 in response to the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, was designed with community-based organization Chatham Business Association (CBA) to increase both education and access to financial assistance options that can help income-eligible customers pay their electric bills, while creating local employment opportunities for this same vulnerable population. Since its inception, the CEAA program has provided employment to approximately 300 residents from Chicago’s underserved south and west sides. During the 2022-23 winter season alone, CEAAs reached out to approximately 1,800 families; 27 percent of whom received a total of more than $59,000 in assistance. This effort contributed to ComEd helping connect more than 87,000 eligible customers to more than $26 million in bill assistance during the first quarter of 2023. For ComEd, this is the largest amount of assistance provided – and second-largest number of customers supported – for any first quarter dating back to at least 2019.