Argonne, ComEd to study climate change on power grid

LEMONT - ComEd, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory's Center for Climate Resilience and Decision Science, said it is launching a comprehensive Climate Risk and Adaptation Study that will examine the impact of changing weather due to climate change, including sustained heat and flooding risk, on the design and performance of the power grid in the region.

This is the first study to be launched in concert with an Electric Power Research Institute initiative, a recently announced, three-year global program on climate change risk. ComEd's parent company, Exelon Corp., is one of 13 founding members of the initiative.

The collaboration between ComEd, Argonne and EPRI will build upon established climate science and industry best practices to help ComEd plan and build infrastructure that is more resilient to the climate changes that pose growing risks to the grid. This will be the first climate adaptation study in the region and one of the only studies in the nation to incorporate the impact of increased electrification into the climate risk planning process.

"Families and businesses in northern Illinois have a front-row seat to the increasingly severe weather caused by climate change, which has brought record-breaking temperature swings, historic tornadoes and hurricane-strength winds that continue to test the resiliency of the power grid and the reliable energy our customers have come to expect," said ComEd CEO Gil Quiniones.