ComEd Urges Customers to Act Now and Use Assistance and Energy Management Programs to Manage Bill Costs

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Key Terms

low-income home energy assistance program (liheap) financial

A federally funded program administered by states that helps low-income households pay heating and cooling bills, receive emergency energy aid, and access basic weatherproofing. Think of it as a safety net that keeps vulnerable customers connected to power and heating. For investors, LIHEAP matters because it can stabilize utility revenue, reduce unpaid-bill losses, influence local energy demand, and affect credit risk and regulatory scrutiny in energy and consumer-facing businesses.

low-income discount (lid) financial

A low-income discount (LID) is a reduction in the cost of a product or service offered to individuals with limited financial means. For investors, it indicates a company’s effort to make its offerings more affordable for underserved populations, which can expand its customer base and demonstrate social responsibility. This can influence the company's reputation and long-term growth prospects, especially in markets focused on accessibility and inclusion.

supplemental arrearage reduction (sarp) financial

Supplemental arrearage reduction (SARP) is an additional program or payment designed to cut down past-due balances that customers or counterparties owe, beyond regular billing or standard relief efforts. For investors it matters because reducing arrears improves a company’s expected cash flow and lowers credit risk—like a targeted catch-up payment that helps tidy up a messy accounts-receivable ledger and makes future revenue more reliable.

budget billing financial

Budget billing is a utility payment plan that evens out a customer’s seasonal or fluctuating bills into a fixed, predictable monthly amount, like averaging a year’s grocery spending into the same payment each month. For investors, it matters because it can reduce short-term revenue swings, lower missed payments and churn, and make a company’s cash flow and customer retention more stable—though it can also hide underlying usage trends.

peak time savings financial

Peak time savings are reductions in costs or energy use achieved by cutting consumption during the busiest, most expensive hours—like avoiding rush-hour traffic to save time and gas. For investors, these savings matter because they can lower operating expenses, improve cash flow, and reduce exposure to volatile utility or commodity prices; companies that manage peak demand often show more predictable margins and can be more attractive capital allocations.

delivery time-of-day pricing rate financial

A delivery time-of-day pricing rate is a charge that changes depending on the hour when a product or service is delivered, most often used for utilities like electricity or gas where costs and demand vary across the day. Like rush-hour tolls for roads, higher rates during peak hours and lower rates at night influence when customers consume, which directly affects a supplier’s revenue, cost management and asset utilization—key factors investors use to judge profitability and risk.

transmission and distribution utilities technical

Transmission and distribution utilities are the companies that operate the high-voltage “wires” and local networks that move electricity from power plants to homes and businesses, including substations, poles and meters. For investors they matter because these businesses sell a basic, regulated service with predictable cash flow but heavy infrastructure costs; changes in reliability, storm damage, electric demand, or regulation can directly affect earnings and the need for future investment.

04/02/2026 - 11:30 AM

More than $108 million in financial assistance and other support options secured by customers in 2025; with similar support available now

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Following one of the coldest winters on record in northern Illinois – with the National Weather Service reporting daily average temperatures below normal for approximately 55% of the season -- ComEd reminds customers that it has bill-assistance programs available to help manage energy costs.

Through a combination of ComEd-supported and federal and state programs, along with energy saving tips and programs, families and businesses can access support options to help manage rising energy costs and maintain essential service at ComEd.com/BillSupport.

“Knowing that many of our customers feel the strain of higher energy bills following a long, cold winter, our immediate priority is to help customers understand what assistance is available right now and how to access it,” said Ajit Apte, Senior Vice President of Customer Operations at ComEd. “In addition to connecting customers with grants, payment options and information that can provide meaningful relief, we continue working with policymakers and partners on long-term solutions to keep costs down.”

ComEd’s bill-support options are available year-round to help address rising energy supply costs – driven by increasingly extreme temperatures and supply-demand imbalances which account for nearly half of customers' energy bills – that continue to impact families and businesses. ComEd does not set supply prices, which are passed on without profit to ComEd.

In 2025, ComEd helped connect more than 220,000 customers to over $108 million in financial assistance and relief programs. This included the $10 million Customer Relief Fund, which provided bill relief to more than 30,000 ComEd customers. Later this year, ComEd plans an extension of the program, which is launched in collaboration with its parent company, Exelon. To help reduce future bill costs for residential, business and public-sector customers, the ComEd Energy Efficiency Program offers tools, services and discounts to help manage energy use. Since 2008, this award-winning program, one of the largest in the nation, has helped all customers save a total of $12 billion on energy bills. Using the ComEd Smart Assistance Manager (SAM), residential customers can be matched with these and other support options that best meet their needs.

ComEd bill-assistance options

Among ComEd’s bill-support options available to customers are:

The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which provides a one-time grant, per program year, with no payback required, while funding remains available. To be eligible, household incomes cannot exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty income guidelines which, for a family of four, is $5,200 a month or $62,400 a year.
ComEd’s Low-Income Discount (LID) program, which offers qualifying income-eligible customers percentage-based discounts on their electric bills based on income level up to 300% of the federal poverty level. These discounts build on LIHEAP and are intended to reduce energy costs to 3% to 6% of total household income.
ComEd’s Supplemental Arrearage Reduction (SARP), which is available to ComEd residential customers who qualify to receive LIHEAP energy-assistance benefits, provides stabilized monthly billing through Budget Billing and lowers a customer’s account balance through arrearage reduction credits.
Catch Up and Save is a two-part program that provides monthly credits to an eligible customer’s bill to eliminate past-due balances through SARP enrollment, as well as a free energy savings kit – while supplies last – to help families save on future energy bills. Each kit includes home products designed to help lower home energy use while improving the efficiency of the home.
Deposit and late-payment charge waivers for one year to income-eligible customers, along with the return of any current deposit.
Payment arrangements of up to 12 months for eligible residential customers with past-due balances. Make a down payment on the amount owed and pay the rest through installment payment in addition to your regular monthly bill.
High-usage alerts, which enable customers to receive alerts when their usage is trending higher than normal to help manage overall energy use, and energy-management tips to help customers manage energy use to save money now and on future energy bills.
Peak Time Savings offers residential customers the opportunity to earn bill credits for reducing energy use during peak usage times. There is no cost to enroll and no penalty for enrolling and not participating.
Energy-efficiency offerings, including award-winning services and incentives designed to help families and businesses reduce energy use now and in the long term.

ComEd’s platform of bill-assistance options support its commitment of The Exelon Promise – a comprehensive, customer-first strategy from parent company Exelon focused on delivering immediate customer relief, strong protections amid growing demand, and long-term solutions to address the root causes driving higher costs. This includes the recent introduction of LID and ComEd’s Delivery Time-of-Day pricing rate in January, the latter of which enables households to save money by shifting their energy usage to times when electricity prices are lower and demand is reduced. This also includes support for legislation that resulted in customers receiving bill credits of over $803 million – or approximately $13 a month depending on usage – over each of the first five months of this year.

ComEd is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ: EXC), a Fortune 200 company and one of the nation’s largest utility companies, serving almost 11 million customers through six fully regulated transmission and distribution utilities -- Atlantic City Electric, BGE, ComEd, Delmarva Power, PECO, and Pepco. ComEd powers the lives of more than 4 million customers across northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state's population. For more information visit ComEd.com, and connect with the company on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, and YouTube.