Opinion

Goudie off base in column on ComEd

Posted September 21, 2007 11:00 pm

We are again disappointed in Chuck Goudie and his misleading column of Sept. 3, in which he alleges that ComEd is not looking out for our customers' interests. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Simply witness ComEd's massive-and expensive-storm restoration effort in late August. I'm extremely proud of all our employees who sacrificed time with family and friends, working 16-hour shifts to restore service to our customers as quickly as possible. And it's not just getting the power back on after storms -- our commitment to ensuring our customers have safe, reliable, affordable electric service drives everything we do.

That's one reason ComEd and Exelon agreed to a $1 billion rate relief settlement, which will provide our customers with bill credits that will effectively cut their 2007 rate increase in half. We announced this publicly in a news conference on July 24. Exelon held a conference call to discuss the settlement with investors the next day.

There was no secret about this or any other investor call -- it was open to all members of the public. Furthermore, it was consistent with information we had already provided to customers, legislators and the media.

In fact, ComEd had announced several months ago that we planned to ask the Illinois Commerce Commission for a modest increase in our delivery service rates. To continue to invest in our infrastructure and ensure reliable service to our customers, we must file such requests from time to time to recover those investments.

And as we have told Mr. Goudie several times, ComEd customers do not pay for the compensation of the 11 top senior executives of Exelon. Those costs are totally funded by the Exelon shareholders, are publicly reported and subject to shareholder and regulatory review like every other corporation in America. ComEd senior executives' salaries are determined by the independent ComEd board of directors who ensure that executive compensation is in line with our industry peers.

Barry Mitchell

President and COO, ComEd

Chicago

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