33 Diverse Businesses Graduate ComEd Energy Efficiency Service Provider Incubator

Since 2019, 66 graduates have helped 139 northern Illinois residents and businesses save money and energy

To expand energy efficiency while helping diverse businesses across northern Illinois grow, ComEd announced the graduation of 33 minority-owned, woman-owned, veteran-owned and other contractor businesses from the ComEd Energy Efficiency Service Provider (EESP) Incubator program. ComEd marked the occasion with a graduation ceremony today in Oak Brook, Ill.

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The EESP Incubator Program offers participants education and training on ComEd’s energy efficiency portfolio offerings; provides one-on-one assistance with certification applications, business growth plans and building relationships with project financing lenders; and identifies, addresses, and resolves barriers to building a successful business in the energy efficiency field. Participants will also have the opportunity to be matched with an experienced mentor for additional peer-to-peer support.

“For ComEd, powering lives is more than delivering electricity to our customers,” said Gil C. Quiniones, CEO of ComEd. “It’s about supporting the region’s workforce and economy through utility-driven, clean-energy innovation and opportunities. The success of our customers and communities will always be at the center of everything we do here at ComEd.”

ComEd created the EESP Incubator Program in 2019 to focus on recruiting diverse contractor businesses and to support the development of all interested contractors. After graduation, contractors are eligible to join the EESP network and, once accepted, provide ComEd Energy Efficiency Program incentives to customers and grow their businesses through the successful completion of energy efficiency projects.

One participant’s story

To address the barriers often faced by diverse contractor businesses, ComEd saw an opportunity to develop programs to support these local businesses, especially those whose employees are trained as lighting, HVAC or general contractors.

Ramon Hayes is a 2019 Incubator program alumnus and owner of South Holland, Ill.-based Eco-Energy Solutions, a service-disabled, veteran-owned business. Prior to participating in the program, Hayes relied on a small client base and single contract to keep his business doors open. The Incubator team, through one-on-one sessions, assisted Hayes in developing a business growth plan and provided opportunities to enhance his networking abilities.

“The Incubator program was really instrumental in allowing me networking opportunities and in putting me in front of major players in the energy-efficiency space,” said Hayes. “It’s actually really simple. There is no way I would be doing the volume of business that I am doing, had I not gone through the Incubator program.”

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Hayes now mentors current Incubator cohort members in energy efficiency project best practices.

Eco-Energy Solutions is one of 66 contractor businesses that have participated in ComEd’s EESP Incubator. Of those participants, 51 have joined the EESP Network and, to date, have submitted 139 energy efficiency projects to ComEd. Many of those projects are located in communities of need which aligns with ComEd’s vision for a clean energy future for all communities it serves, but especially for those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Over the years, the ComEd Energy Efficiency Program has increasingly helped customers of all kinds reduce their energy bills and consumption, which also helps reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Since its inception in 2008, the ComEd Energy Efficiency Program has provided impactful contributions toward Illinois’ clean energy future. Specifically, the ComEd Energy Efficiency Program has:

• saved ComEd customers more than 56 million megawatt hours of energy usage and a total of $6.7 billion on their electric bills.
• reduced carbon dioxide emissions by more than 61 billion pounds, the equivalent of taking six million cars off the road for one year.
• issued more than $1.5 billion in incentives, allowing northern Illinois customers to reinvest in their homes, businesses and communities.

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