Chicago Area Utilities Join Forces to Help Families Save Electricity and Natural Gas

Published: January 28, 2015

CHICAGO (Jan. 27, 2015) – Nearly 5,000 Chicago fifth grade students are becoming Super Energy Savers through a joint education program offered by ComEd and Peoples Gas. Super Savers, a FREE science, engineering and mathematics (STEM) based curriculum, developed for fifth grade students, will teach thousands of students about the importance of energy efficiency, and allow them to share money- and energy-saving tips with their families.

The program launched today at Hefferan Elementary School, a STEM based school located on Chicago’s west side, where Commissioner Sherina Maye of the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) and representatives from ComEd and Peoples Gas were on-hand to deliver Super Savers kits to the schools 42 fifth grade students.

Hefferan Principal Jacqueline Hearns believes the program aligns perfectly with the school’s STEM focus. “The Super Savers Program involves science, technology, engineering and math,” she said. “The program teaches meaningful concepts that can benefit the entire household.”

The Super Savers kit, which supports state and national education standards and benchmarks, comes complete with teacher education materials, lesson plans, activity books, and other engaging activities. For instance, students will receive three compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), a high-efficiency showerhead, kitchen faucet aerator, digital thermometer, shower timer, and more, to help implement classroom lessons at home. By installing the energy-saving products included in the kit, students and their families can learn together how to save energy and water, which also could lower utility bills.

“ComEd is committed to helping our customers learn more about managing their electricity use and we are pleased to partner with Peoples Gas to help bring this program to public schools across our service area to help students, our future customers, learn about using energy wisely,” said Fidel Marquez, senior vice president of Governmental and External Affairs.

“Seeing fifth graders learn and demonstrate energy efficiency and water conservation is an important part of putting STEM skills into practice,” said Patrick Michalkiewicz, Manager – Energy Efficiency & Major Accounts. “We are excited to continue working with ComEd to bring this program to elementary schools across Chicago.”

The Super Savers program is a joint effort between ComEd, Nicor Gas, Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas along with Resource Action Programs®. The program was designed specifically for Illinois Public Schools.

The annual savings produced by the overall program are projected to save more than 632,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity and close to 66,000 therms, enough to power 72 homes for a year.

About ComEd

Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC), the nation’s leading competitive energy provider, with approximately 7.8 million customers. ComEd provides service to approximately 3.8 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, Twitter and YouTube.

About Peoples Gas

Peoples Gas, a subsidiary of Integrys Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE: TEG), is a regulated natural gas delivery company that serves approximately 831,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in the city of Chicago.

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Keywords: ComEd, community, Energy Efficiency, family