October 10
ComEd Tops $100 Million in EV Rebates, Expands Support for Charging
Top consumer smart energy news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
Member News
ComEd said that it has distributed more than $100 million in transportation electrification rebates to customers since launching its EV rebate programs in February 2024. The funding has supported more than 7,200 charging ports and some 2,200 fleet EVs across northern Illinois, said the utility, which expects to pay more than $60 million through the end of the year in additional rebates.
PLMA, The Flexible Load Management Community, and the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC), a nonprofit organization that studies Americans’ energy-related behaviors, interests and values, this week announced that they are bringing a new experience to DTECH® 2026 in San Diego for utility professionals interested in load flexibility, DERs and residential customer engagement.
EPRI recently launched GridFAST™ – a central online portal that modernizes and simplifies the way fleet operators and charging providers interact with the United States' 3,200 utilities. GridFAST "encourages the earliest notifications from customers with electric vehicle projects to allow utilities to plan for these loads to ensure the most reliable and affordable grid transition.”
Gen Z consumers are less likely to view their electricity providers as trustworthy, reliable, or satisfactory compared to older generations, according to new research from the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC). On a 10-point scale, Gen Z respondents rated their providers 7.0 for trust and 7.2 for satisfaction, compared with 7.5 for both metrics among Baby Boomers.
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Industry News
The future of community solar is dimming, hampered by federal attacks on clean energy and shifts in state markets. Installations of the shared-solar approach took a nosedive in the first half of 2025, dropping by 36 percent from the same period last year, according to a new report. Consultancy Wood Mackenzie forecasts that by the end of 2025, installations will fall by 29 percent from 2024’s record high of 1.7 GW.
A new report from the Michigan Public Service Commission has revealed that investments in energy waste reduction (EWR) programs made in 2024 will save residents about $1.4 billion in energy costs. These EWR programs resulted in savings of 1.73 million megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity and 6.44 million thousand cubic feet (Mcf) of natural gas last year, according to the MPSC’s 2024 Utility Energy Waste Reduction Programs Annual Report.
Energy efficiency efforts in six New England states and New York are saving customers billions of dollars on utility bills and reducing peak demand on the region’s electric grid, according to analysis published Monday by Acadia Center. The report comes at a time when the federal government is cutting investment in energy efficiency and electricity demand is rising.
About 30 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, Virginia, workers have been building America’s largest offshore wind farm at a breakneck pace. The project will start feeding power to the grid by March – the most definitive start date provided by its developer yet. “First power will occur in Q1 of next year,” Dominion Energy spokesperson Jeremy Slayton told Canary Media. “And we are still on schedule to complete by late 2026.”
