In response to the goals outlined in Illinois’ Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), ComEd is developing initiatives for workforce development, electrification, resiliency, and the renewable energy transition – and seeks to do so in a way that equitably addresses and works to correct historic environmental injustice. In parallel, ComEd is shifting away from formula rates to a performance-based, multi-year rate plan. ComEd enlisted ILLUME and Industrial Economics (IEc) (“the Research Team”) to perform a study to inform both its implementation strategy of CEJA’s goals. This report summarizes the analysis, findings, and recommendations from this study. The research team investigated:
- The who: the indicators that identify under-resourced communities experiencing disproportionate environmental harms.
- The how: The barriers these disadvantaged communities (DACs) have historically faced related to environmental justice and the potential opportunities for ComEd to directly address them in partnership and/or by supporting others.
Understanding the shared and different definitions of disadvantaged communities used by Illinois and other states, as well as the federal government, was key in informing this investigation into the barriers and opportunities to providing equitable service. We mapped out state- and -federally-guided indicators in two interactive maps, also linked on this page.
