The president of ComEd, governor of Illinois, chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission, director of Region 1 Planning, Rockford's mayor and other statewide and regional leaders gathered in downtown Rockford Thursday to celebrate the beginning of a $116 million five-year investment in Rockford's power grid.
Diginitaries were on hand to announce a $50M federal grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to ComEd that will the company plans to match and use with other investments from Region 1 and various innovation partners and vendors to strengthen Rockford's grid resilience.
"Over the past several years, Illinois has established itself as a leader in the fight against climate change and a powerhouse in the new energy economy. Today, through a $116 million dollar investment in enhanced grid technology and resiliency, energy interconnectivity, and renewable infrastructure deployment, the Biden-Harris administration is bringing us a step closer to meeting our ambitious climate and energy goals," Gov. JB Pritzker said in a news release. "To the City of Rockford, ComEd, DOE, and Region1 Planning Council, thank you for investing in the present and future of Illinois. I am proud to be your partner in this work and look forward to seeing this project -- and others just like it -- come to life across the state."
The grant is part of the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships Program, the release states, which seeks to enhance grid flexibility and improve the resilience of the power system against growing threats of extreme weather and climate change, support growth of solar and electric vehicles and create local workforce training initiatives.
"The GRIP grant is indicative of Illinois' emergence as a national leader in the clean energy transition," said Gil Quiniones, president and CEO of ComEd. "These funds will not only help ComEd to modernize and decarbonize Rockford's grid but also to prepare jobseekers for careers in the fast-growing clean energy sector."