Exelon
Encyclopedia
Chase Tower (Chicago)
Chase Tower, located in the Chicago Loop area of Chicago at 10 South Dearborn Street, is a 60 story skyscraper completed in 1969. At 850 feet tall, it is the tenth tallest building in Chicago, the tallest building inside the Chicago 'L' Loop elevated tracks, and the 32nd tallest in the United...
in the Chicago Loop
Chicago Loop
The Loop or Chicago Loop is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas located in the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is the historic commercial center of downtown Chicago...
area of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. It was created in October, 2000 by the merger of PECO Energy Company
PECO Energy Company
PECO is an energy company founded in 1881 and incorporated in 1929. It became part of Exelon Corporation in 2000 when it merged with Unicom. The company has approximately 2,300 employees; its call center and field craft personnel are members of IBEW Local 614...
and Unicom
Unicom
Unicom may refer to:* UNiCOM, or [UNiCOM] photo, UK based News & Sports Photography Agency* UNICOM, or Universal Communications, air-ground communication facility*China Unicom, telecommunication operator in China...
, of Philadelphia and Chicago respectively. Unicom owned Commonwealth Edison
Commonwealth Edison
Commonwealth Edison is the largest electric utility in Illinois, serving the Chicago and Northern Illinois area...
. Exelon has 5.4 million electricity customers and serves 485,000 natural gas customers in the Philadelphia suburbs.
In October, 2009 Exelon had full or majority ownership of 17 nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
s in 10 nuclear power plant
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
s.
History
On June 30, 2005 the Federal Energy Regulatory CommissionFederal Energy Regulatory Commission
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is the United States federal agency with jurisdiction over interstate electricity sales, wholesale electric rates, hydroelectric licensing, natural gas pricing, and oil pipeline rates...
approved the merger of Exelon and Public Service Enterprise Group Inc., a New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
utility. Under this merger, Exelon would have become the largest utility in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The two companies later broke off the agreement due to pressure put on the NJ Board of Public Utilities by public interest groups, including New Jersey Citizen Action. The merger sat pending in front of the NJBPU for nineteen months before Exelon concluded that they were fighting a losing battle. On April 28, 2011 Exelon announced merger with Constellation Energy
Constellation Energy
Constellation Energy, headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, is an energy producer, trader, and distributor. The company operates over 35 power plants in 11 states under its operating company Constellation Commodities Group and/or Constellation Generation Group...
for $7.9 billion and the combined company will own more than 34 gigawatts of power generation (55 percent nuclear, 24 percent natural gas, 8 percent renewable including hydro, 7 percent oil and 6 percent coal).
Nuclear generation
Exelon is a leading nuclear power plant operator in the United States.- Braidwood Nuclear Generating StationBraidwood Nuclear Generating StationBraidwood Generating Station is located in Will County in northeastern Illinois, USA. The nuclear power plant serves Chicago and northern Illinois with electricity. The plant was originally built by Commonwealth Edison company, and subsequently transferred to Com Ed's parent company, Exelon...
(Illinois) - Byron Nuclear Generating StationByron Nuclear Generating StationThe Byron Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power plant located in Ogle County, Illinois, east of the Rock River. The reactor buildings were constructed by Babcock and Wilcox and house two Westinghouse pressurized water reactors, Unit 1 and Unit 2, which first began operation in...
(Illinois) - Clinton Nuclear Generating StationClinton Nuclear Generating StationThe Clinton Power Station is located near Clinton, Illinois, USA. The nuclear power station has a General Electric boiling water reactor on a site with an adjacent cooling reservoir, Clinton Lake. Due to inflation and cost overruns, Clinton's final construction cost exceeded $2.6 billion...
(Illinois) - Dresden Nuclear Power PlantDresden Nuclear Power PlantDresden Generating Station is the first privately financed nuclear power plant built in the United States. Dresden 1 was activated in 1960 and retired in 1978. Operating since 1970 are Dresden units 2 and 3, two General Electric boiling water reactors...
(Illinois) - LaSalle County Nuclear Generating StationLaSalle County Nuclear Generating StationLaSalle County Nuclear Generating Station, located southeast of Ottawa, Illinois serves Chicago and northern Illinois with electricity. The plant is owned and operated by the Exelon Corporation. Its Units 1 and 2 began commercial operation in August 1982 and April 1984, respectively.It has...
(Illinois) - Limerick Nuclear Power PlantLimerick Nuclear Power PlantThe Limerick Generating Station in Pennsylvania is located next to the Schuylkill River in Limerick Township, Montgomery County, northwest of Philadelphia. The facility has two General Electric boiling water reactor units, cooled by natural draft cooling towers...
(Pennsylvania) - Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating StationOyster Creek Nuclear Generating StationOyster Creek nuclear power station is a single unit 636 MWe boiling water reactor power plant located on an 800 acre site adjacent to the Oyster Creek in the Forked River section of Lacey Township in Ocean County, New Jersey. The facility is currently owned and operated by Exelon Corporation and...
(New Jersey) - Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station (Pennsylvania)
- Quad Cities Nuclear Generating StationQuad Cities Nuclear Generating StationQuad Cities Generating Station is a two-unit nuclear power plant located near Cordova, Illinois, USA on the Mississippi River. The two General Electric boiling water reactors give the plant a total electric capacity of approximately 1,824 MW...
(Illinois) - Salem Nuclear Power Plant (New Jersey) (minority owner)
- Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating StationThree Mile Island Nuclear Generating StationThree Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station is a civilian nuclear power plant located on Three Mile Island in the Susquehanna River, south of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It has two separate units, known as TMI-1 and TMI-2...
(Pennsylvania) - Zion Nuclear Power StationZion Nuclear Power StationZion Nuclear Power Station was the third dual-reactor nuclear power plant in the Commonwealth Edison network and served Chicago and the northern quarter of Illinois. The plant was built in 1973, and the first unit started producing power in December, 1973. The second unit came online in September...
(Illinois) (reactors inactive)
Fossil Fuel
Numerous sites in:- Southeastern PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
- MassachusettsMassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
- IllinoisIllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
- TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
Renewable
- Mountaineer Wind Energy CenterMountaineer Wind Energy CenterMountaineer Wind Energy Center is a wind farm on Backbone Mountain in Preston and Tucker counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. When it came online in December 2002, Mountaineer was the first wind farm in West Virginia, and the largest east of the Mississippi River. Mountaineer Wind Energy...
(West Virginia) - Somerset Wind FarmSomerset Wind FarmThe Somerset Wind Farm is a wind farm in Somerset County, Pennsylvania with six GE 1.5 MW Wind Turbines that began commercial operation in October 2001. The wind farm has a combined total nameplate capacity of 9 MW, and produces about 25,000 megawatt-hours of electricity annually, which is roughly...
(Pennsylvania) - Waymart Wind Energy CenterWaymart Wind FarmWaymart Wind Farm is the second largest wind farm in Pennsylvania, United States. It consists of 43 GE 1.5 MW wind turbines, with a total net capacity of 64.5 MW. The project is located in Wayne County, Pennsylvania. The wind farm was developed by Atlantic Renewable Energy and constructed by...
(Pennsylvania) - West Pullman City Solar Plant (Chicago, Illinois)
- Exelon Wind (sites in ID, IL, KS, MI, MO, MN, OR, TX)
Other Business Units
- Exelon PowerLabs, LLC
Exelon PowerLabs, LLC (a wholly owned subsidiary of Exelon Generation) operates at 4 locations nationwide. The Plattsburgh, NY and Madison, PA facilities specialize in Calibration; the Wilmington, IL facility specializes in Failure Analysis and Component Testing; while the Coatesville, PA location provides all services. The Quality System is ISO 9001:2000 Registered for both the Plattsburgh, NY and Coatesville, PA facilities. The Coatesville and Plattsburgh facilities are also ISO 17025 accredited through the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA).
Exelon PowerLabs has been operating since 1911.
Political activity
Chicago mayor, former CongressmanUnited States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
and Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
Chief of Staff
White House Chief of Staff
The White House Chief of Staff is the highest ranking member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and a senior aide to the President.The current White House Chief of Staff is Bill Daley.-History:...
Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Israel Emanuel is an American politician and the 55th and current Mayor of Chicago. He was formerly White House Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama...
was a "key player" representing Unicom Corp., the parent of Commonwealth Edison, in forging its merger with Peco Energy Co. to create utility giant Exelon Corp. in 1999 when Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...
was also advising Unicom. Additionally, "Obama's top political strategist, David Axelrod
David Axelrod
David Axelrod may refer to:* David Axelrod * David Axelrod , Senior Advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama* David B. Axelrod , poet and educator...
, was a consultant for Exelon."
Exelon's Political Action Committee
Political action committee
In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation. Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a...
(PAC) is EXELONPAC. The company is positioned to profit from "expensive carbon" and has been lobbying for cap and trade of carbon dioxide emissions. "Exelon CEO John Rowe
John Rowe (CEO) Exelon
John W. Rowe is the chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the energy corporation Exelon Corporation, a utility holding company headquartered in Chicago. Exelon has the largest market capitalization in the electric utility industry...
is a vociferous and longtime advocate of climate change legislation. In 2009, Forbes reported that if the Waxman-Markey
American Clean Energy and Security Act
The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 was an energy bill in the 111th United States Congress that would have established a variant of an emissions trading plan similar to the European Union Emission Trading Scheme...
climate legislation -- supported by Obama -- became law, 'the present value of Exelon's earnings stream would increase by $14 a share, or 28%.'" Executives at the company have close ties to the Obama administration as advisors and fundraisers. "Frank Clark, CEO of Exelon's Chicago-based subsidiary ComEd, was an Obama advisor and fundraiser, and Exelon director John Rogers has also raised funds for Obama."
Pollution, security incidents
In 2005, Exelon was required to pay a $602,000 fine for exceeding the permitted sulfur dioxideSulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is released by volcanoes and in various industrial processes. Since coal and petroleum often contain sulfur compounds, their combustion generates sulfur dioxide unless the sulfur compounds are removed before burning the fuel...
emission limit from April to October 2004 at its Cromby Generating Station in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
Exelon and Illinois state officials waited for four years until 2006 before disclosing that Exelon's Braidwood Nuclear Generating Station
Braidwood Nuclear Generating Station
Braidwood Generating Station is located in Will County in northeastern Illinois, USA. The nuclear power plant serves Chicago and northern Illinois with electricity. The plant was originally built by Commonwealth Edison company, and subsequently transferred to Com Ed's parent company, Exelon...
, a nuclear plant 60 miles southeast of Chicago, had spilled millions of gallons of water containing tritium
Tritium
Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. The nucleus of tritium contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of protium contains one proton and no neutrons...
, a radioactive form of hydrogen, multiple times over a decade. Exelon officials eventually apologized and said the risks from the leak were “minimal”, with tritium levels in surrounding wells all found to be below regulatory limits.
In 2009, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened January 19, 1975...
announced its plan for a $65,000 fine against Exelon for permitting its contracted security guards that were guarding its Peach Bottom Nuclear Generating Station
Peach Bottom Nuclear Generating Station
Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, a nuclear power plant, is located southeast of Harrisburg in Peach Bottom Township, York County, Pennsylvania, on the Susquehanna River on the Maryland border....
, a two-reactor nuclear plant located in Delta, Pennsylvania to sleep on the job. The incidents did not come to light until a videotape of the security guards was leaked to news media. As a result, Exelon terminated the security contract of the Wackenhut security firm that had been involved.