PECO Ready to Meet Customer Demands As Colder Weather Approaches

As temperatures begin to dip below freezing and customers adjust their thermostats because of colder winter weather, PECO has completed the work necessary to ready its electric and natural gas system to ensure reliable service for customers all winter long.

In a major component of its winter readiness work, PECO has secured its gas supply and completed filling its natural gas storage facilities to serve its more than 490,000 natural gas customers this heating season. To ensure supply and hedge against price fluctuations, PECO buys and stores about a third of its winter gas supply during the non-heating months.

The utility has completed 26 capacity expansion projects, which included the replacement of more than 20,000 feet of smaller underground gas main with larger diameter gas mains to handle increased load and pressure to meet the growing needs of customers. The company also completed more than 70 projects to replace more than 50,000 feet of cast iron and bare steel gas lines with plastic gas mains, which have proven to be more durable and easier to maintain.

"It’s our responsibility to provide our customers with safe and reliable service no matter what time of year,” said Craig Adams, PECO senior vice president and chief operating officer. "We are constantly investing in our system to meet the growing needs of our customers and to ensure we provide the reliable electric and natural gas service our customers have come to expect.”

In addition to work completed on PECO’s natural gas system, the company also has completed a thorough assessment of its electric delivery system to ensure the proper configuration for its electric circuits, analyzed winter electric usage patterns for increased customer reliability, and performed necessary tree and vegetation management work to ready its electric system for winter.

The investment in upgraded electric and natural gas distribution facilities is an example of more than $440 million in capital improvements the company has made this year in its facilities across the region.

Based in Philadelphia, PECO is an electric and natural gas utility subsidiary of Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC). PECO serves 1.6 million electric and 490,000 natural gas customers in southeastern Pennsylvania and employs about 2,400 people in the region. PECO delivered 87.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 39.5 billion kilowatt-hours-hours of electricity in 2010. Founded in 1881, PECO is one of the Greater Philadelphia Region's most active corporate citizens, providing leadership, volunteer and financial support to numerous arts and culture, education, environmental, economic development and community programs and organizations.

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