ComEd progressing on network improvements

ComEd officials Friday said the utility has overhauled storm response systems, introducing Facebook and other methods for customers to report outages, while continuing network upgrades for Smart Grid.

After massive outages last summer, ComEd formed an internal task force to streamline its processes, said ComEd Chief Operating Officer Terence Donnelly and ComEd President Anne Pramaggiore.

“Social media opportunities allow us to communicate better,” said Pramaggiore.

ComEd has changed about 60 different internal processes so it can better address outages and inform customers faster and more efficiently. Those changes include allowing customers to text using a free mobile smartphone app or going through Facebook to report any outages. An online outage map also indicates the area of the outage, as well as providing an estimated restoration time and the status of the repair crew. ComEd also has trained its field personnel to put those updates online and via the app.

In addition, changes include electronic work notifications in real time to crews and a SMART Board with Google maps that tracks crews that have GPS. This allows officials to locate crews and figure out where they could be sent next, improving logistics, said Donnelly.

Also, ComEd has replaced or refurbished a number of underground residential cables, poles and distribution automation devices, which allow ComEd to automatically detect issues on the system and reroute power around the problem.

Besides the network upgrades, ComEd said it has been encouraging competition in municipal aggregation, where towns are seeking an alternative electric provider. During the last election, 170 municipality referendums saw voters approving the selection of another provider. ComEd said it is working closely with about 140 of those towns to help them make any necessary transitions, said Pramaggiore.

In November’s election, 58 additional municipalities will ask their residents whether they should explore other providers. If they all approve that move, then about 2.7 million customers could be involved in selecting a new provider, Pramaggiore said.