Learn more about the ComEd Beneficial Electrification Plan Pilots.
The Final Order in ComEd’s Beneficial Electrification Plan (“BE Plan”) proceeding, Illinois Commerce Commission (“Commission” or “ICC”) Docket Nos.22-0432 and 22-0442, Cons., dated March 23, 2023, and Amended May 8, 2023 (“Final Order”), specifies a budget of $77 million annually over the three-year period of the BE Plan, 2023 through 2025. Of this $77 million total, the Commission allocated $5 million annually to implement eight pilot programs, referred to collectively as the Beneficial Electrification (BE) Pilots.
ComEd’s first BE Plan (BE Plan 1) runs from 2023-2025. Following approval of the final order, ComEd developed a process for selecting and scoring pilot ideas, which was shared with stakeholders in July 2023. ComEd then sought input from stakeholders on pilot design through an RFQ process in November 2023. This input was incorporated into the final pilot design, shared with stakeholders through 1-pager documents in April, 2024. Pilot vendors were selected via a competitive RFP process which began in March 2024 and concluded between July 2024 and March 2025, depending on the pilot. Finally, pilots began implementation during the period beginning in November 2024 and concluding December 2025.
Interested parties may keep informed of opportunities to submit input and ideas in support of BE Plan 2 by monitoring this webpage or signing up to join our mailing list to receive updates, by completing the form on the Keep in Touch page.
This update provides the latest information on the scope, vendors, anticipated launch and close dates, and the status of the BE Pilots.
| Project | Lead Vendor/Partners | Project Type | Customer Segment | Pilot In Field Start Date | Pilot In Field End Date | Status Update |
Air Quality Monitoring A collective of academic researchers and air quality experts will collect hyperlocal granular air quality readings in select EIEC neighborhoods across the city of Chicago. Target locations for this pilot include Pilsen, Little Village, and the Southeast side of Chicago. Monitoring will run throughout 2025 with data being accessible on a monthly basis. The goal is to identify where the need for electrification is greatest and where to prioritize investments to improve public health and quality of life. | Lead Vendor: RHP Risk Partners: Aclima, Clarity, Purple Air, UIC, UIUC, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, Southeast Environmental Taskforce, Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization, Alliance of the Southeast | Field Tests & Demonstrations | Crosscutting | February 2025 | September 2025 | Mobile Air monitoring has begun as of late February with Aclima. The project team is working to onboard participating community organizations to begin recruitment for indoor air monitoring. Stationary monitoring is slated to begin in late Q2. |
Backup Power Capabilities The objective of this pilot is to conduct comprehensive market research and analysis to study technologies that enable the use of an EV’s bi-directional capabilities, such as vehicle-to-grid technology, to evaluate their readiness for adoption. | TBD | Market Characterization | Crosscutting | Q2 2025 | Q4 2025 | This pilot is in the final contracting stages, and is anticipated to kick off in Q2 2025. |
Curbside Charging Demonstrate a modular and scalable curbside charging model that practically addresses gaps in electric vehicle charger access while optimizing cost, efficiency, and grid operation. The pilot also aims to develop best practices in equitable implementation, construction practices, and municipal collaboration. | Lead Vendors: HBK, MJ Electric, Electric Power Engineers | Scaled Field Demonstrations | Commercial and Industrial | May 2025 | December 2025 | Sites are being assessed for construction feasibility through May 2025. Construction slated to begin following site assessment and extend through early Q4. |
Electric Vehicle Energy Management System (EV EMS) To test the ability of EV EMS software demand monitoring and load control technologies to regulate the capacity of an (L2) electric vehicle (EV) charger to ensure the maximum load of the EV supply equipment (EVSE) does not exceed the available capacity of the home’s main circuit panel. | Lead Vendor: WeaveGrid Partners: Emporia, SWTCH, Treehouse | Field Tests & Demonstrations | Residential Single Family Home, Residential Multi-Family Units | February 2025 (Residential) May 2025 (Multifamily) | October 2025 | The pilot team launched residential customer recruitment and enrollment activities. The team completed equipment installation for this set of customers in March and will begin data collection as well. Multifamily site recruitment will begin in May with equipment installation anticipated to occur in June. |
Residential Optimized Charging To examine the feasibility and incremental benefits of allowing customers to passively modify their level of charge by opting to allow the vendor/utility to actively manage their customer’s level of charge within a charging session to optimize demand savings and reduce grid impacts while ensuring the customer’s electric vehicle (EV) experience is not diminished. | Lead Vendor: Optiwatt Partners: Opinion Dynamics, Walker Miller | Field Test | Residential | February 2025 | September 2025 | The pilot has concluded customer recruitment and begun optimizing charging sessions. 1,292 EVs from 1,137 customers are participating in this optimized EV Charging pilot, including residential customers on both ComEd’s Hourly and Flat Rates and 120 low-to-moderate income customers. |
Rideshare To develop a carsharing program that provides EV access to low-income and EJ/R3 customers by addressing cost barriers and promoting familiarity. The pilot will place vehicles in transit-, work-, and residence-adjacent locations to enable households to own fewer cars while serving everyday transportation needs. | Lead Vendor: ZipCar | Scaled Field Demonstrations | Commercial and Industrial | March 2025 | December 2025 | Contracts have been signed with construction and implementer. Sites are currently being assessed for construction feasibility with anticipation date of Q2 to complete construction. Deployment for sites with existing EVSE infrastructure has begun. |
School Bus Vehicle-to-Grid To assess and demonstrate the viability of implementing vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology with electric school buses (ESBs) and showcase the technology’s potential to leverage ESBs as viable energy storage sources while achieving balance on the grid. | Lead Vendors: Resource Innovations, DNV Energy Insights Partners: Nuvve, Verdant | Field Tests & Demonstrations | Commercial and Industrial | Q2 2025 | Q4 2025 | The pilot began in field work in January. The project team is working to onboard customers, and the sites are being assessed for interconnection. Testing and data collection is slated to begin in Q2 2025 and run till Q4 2025. |
Submetering Understand and evaluate the feasibility of using the capabilities inherent in electric vehicle service equipment (EVSE) to act as a submeter for utility billing purposes, establishing a preferred set of standards and criteria to qualify chargers as submeters with sufficient accuracy for ComEd billing. | Lead Vendor: Resource Innovations | Market Characterization | Crosscutting | January 2025 (Residential) | September 2025 | Recruitment and enrollment have begun for Residential customers, data collection device installations anticipated to complete March 2025. Commercial recruitment and enrollment is currently ongoing and expected to be completed soon. |
Visit the links below for more background on each of the eight pilots.
Air Quality Monitoring
Backup Power Capabilities
Curbside Charging
Electric Vehicle Energy Management System (EV EMS)
Residential Optimized Charging
Rideshare
School Bus Vehicle To Grid
Submetering
Pursuant to the Final Order, ComEd is required to determine an evaluation process and criteria for reviewing and scoring BE Pilot ideas and proposals. Id. at 87.
The BE Pilot Evaluation Process and Criteria document, linked below, outlines the process and criteria that will be used for pre-screening, reviewing requests for information (“RFIs”), reviewing requests for proposals (“RFPs”), and assessing BE Pilot success. More information on BE Pilots, as well as RFI information, will be posted here as it becomes available.
