Company ensures it's ready to meet increased summer demand and provides tips for customers to save energy and money

PHILADELPHIA (May 25, 2022) – The summer season is quickly approaching and with it, comes higher temperatures, increased usage, and severe storms. PECO has been hard at work for the past several months to ensure the company's critical electric infrastructure is prepared to handle increased demand during the hotter summer months. This proactive effort also includes infrastructure work to strengthen the local energy grid to prevent outages caused by severe summer storms.  

During the next five years, PECO is investing approximately $6 billion across its electric and natural gas systems to inspect equipment, complete targeted infrastructure enhancements and corrective maintenance, invest in new equipment, and perform vegetation management work. This investment includes PECO's Reliability & Resiliency Plan, which outlines the investment of $1.36 billion on targeted reliability-focused electric system infrastructure investments through 2025. As part of this work and in preparation for the summer season, PECO has tested systems, processes, and procedures, and has completed 286 projects and initiatives across the region to ensure customers stay powered this summer.

PECO's ongoing investments remain critical to ensuring reliable and resilient service for customers in the face of intensifying severe weather, which continues to increase and become more frequent. During the past 10 years, PECO has experienced 6 of the 10 most damaging storms in the company's history.

The company also continues to explore innovative technologies to help improve reliability for customers. This includes using drones to enable more efficient equipment inspections and faster damage assessments following storms, installing stronger poles and tree-resistant aerial cable, and installing specialized equipment, known as reclosers, that can automatically restore service or isolate storm damage.

"We are committed to providing safe, reliable, and resilient service for our customers every day, no matter how high the temperature climbs," said John McDonald, PECO senior vice president and COO. "As the past few years have shown us, severe summer storms are becoming more prevalent, which is why it's so critical that we continue to make our infrastructure more resilient to power our customers' lives."

Storm Safety

While PECO works to prevent as many outages as possible, severe storms can cause damage and power outages. Customers can act now to prepare for severe weather by visiting peco.com/storm. PECO offers important storm readiness resources, including how to prepare for an approaching storm, how to properly use generators if power is lost, what to expect after storms, and how to stay safe.

Tips to Help Manage your Bill

While customers have experienced relatively low energy prices for the past several years, current market trends are driving higher energy bills nationwide. This is leading to increased electric and natural gas supply costs, which customers will see on their bill during the summer months. Managing energy usage is especially important during the summer months as this is typically the time when customers use more electricity to cool their homes and businesses. There are several low- and no-cost tips that customers can follow to gain control over their energy use and costs to save money.

Energy Efficiency

Customers can take advantage of energy efficiency programs to save energy and money, including energy assessments that identify ways to save even more. Visit www.peco.com/waystosave to learn more.

In addition, customers can lower their bills during the summer months by following a few simple tips:

• Turn it off: Turn off all unnecessary lighting and devices.
• Manage your thermostat: Keep thermostats at a constant, comfortable level when at home. Raise the thermostat setting for days of extreme heat to save even more. Install a programmable thermostat to automatically adjust your home's temperature settings when you're away or sleeping.
• Keep shades, blinds and curtains closed: About 40 percent of unwanted heat comes through windows. Simply closing blinds and curtains, which act as a layer of insulation, can reduce heat in your home.
• Use ceiling fans to circulate air: For those without air conditioning, use ceiling fans or portable fans with the windows partially open to circulate fresh air into your home. For those with air conditioning, fans can be used to evenly distribute cool air.
• Use appliances wisely: Run appliances that produce heat (like clothes dryers, ovens, and dishwashers) at night when it is cooler.
  

Monitor Usage

Through PECO's MyAccount at https://www.peco.com/myaccount, customers can track their energy use, set up high usage alerts, get tips on how to reduce energy costs, and learn which appliances use the most energy.

Shop for Energy

Customers may be able to save money by shopping for natural gas or electricity with a competitive supplier.

• Use the PECO Price to Compare to evaluate offers from competitive suppliers.
• A customer's individual Price to Compare is listed in the Message Center of their monthly bill. 
• To find competitive natural gas or electric generation suppliers or learn more about shopping for natural gas or electricity visit the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission's websites at www.pagasswitch.com or www.papowerswitch.com. As a reminder, it's still important for customers to understand their competitive supplier contract as the rate or terms could change.
• In addition, customers can sign up for the Standard Offer Program. This is an option to all customers to receive seven percent off the Price to Compare when they enroll with a participating Electric Generation Supplier. The price per kWh is locked in for 12 billing cycles and customers can elect to switch any time without penalty.
• It's still important for customers to understand their Electric Generation Supplier contract as the rate or terms could change at the end of the 12-month billing cycle.

Bill Relief and Assistance Programs

PECO has billing and financial assistance programs to help qualified customers who are facing financial challenges manage their energy bill. PECO also offers additional programs that can help customers pay down outstanding balances through grants. Income-qualified programs are also available to help customers with bill credits, energy efficiency, and referrals for additional services. For more information about financial assistance programs, customers can visit www.peco.com/help.

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