The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant economic and financial hardship for many in the Southeastern Pennsylvania region. Those affected, including the newly unemployed, most vulnerable communities, and small business owners, continue to grapple with the realities of the pandemic and long-term implications of this health crisis.

Recognizing the realities of this uncertain environment, PECO has developed bill relief options to assist customers facing financial hardship. These programs are designed to help customers get back on track with paying their bills while avoiding building up large outstanding balances that may result in an additional financial burden in the future.

Many customers who were not eligible for financial assistance before are now eligible to participate in new or expanded programs. For example, income-qualified customers who have never before enrolled in our Customer Assistance Program (CAP) are now eligible to have their total outstanding balance forgiven. Residential customers can easily enroll in a payment plan online at www.peco.com/billrelief, and find out more about all available financial assistance at www.peco.com/help.

It is important for customers to take action and enroll in programs today. To date, only two percent of eligible customers have taken advantage of our new, flexible payment options. We strongly encourage customers to contact us to enroll in this plan with zero down and no interest.

PECO is committed to helping every customer through difficult times. We are conducting virtual sessions with community partners and elected officials to help promote available bill relief, as we remain focused on delivering safe and reliable electric and natural gas service to our customers in the communities we serve.

Beyond saving money, municipalities that upgrade to energy-saving equipment can make valuable investments in their communities, improving the economic strength, resilience, competitiveness and wealth of their community.

So where might there be opportunity for upgrades? Many wastewater treatment facilities are aging and in need of renovation and expansion. As water supply and wastewater treatment systems are typically among the most energy-intensive facilities owned and operated by local governments, they are a priority area to consider for further investment and improvement.

Water treatment plants can account for up to one-third of a municipality's total energy bill. Upgrading to energy-efficient motors and installing variable frequency drives (VFDs) can help you match the speeds of your motors to operational demands, which can lower your energy costs and reduce wear and tear on your equipment.

PECO offers financial incentives to help further offset the cost of purchasing and installing VFDs on your equipment. By simply upgrading the efficiency of motors at these plants, municipalities could save as much as two billion kWh per year. * That’s the equivalent of 163,176 homes’ energy use for one year!

Strategic Energy Management (SEM) is also an increasingly popular opportunity for municipalities to capture comprehensive savings, especially in water/wastewater infrastructure. SEM is the holistic approach to managing energy use in order to continuously improve energy performance and achieve energy, cost and carbon savings over the long term.

Applying SEM to the municipal water sector has successfully reduced government energy budgets and even helped municipalities meet greenhouse gas reduction goals. PECO offers custom financial incentives to help you offset the cost of undertaking SEM at your own plant.

Looking for a quick, easy project than can help you save sooner? Lighting can account for up to 60% of a municipality’s energy costs. By working with PECO to apply for financial incentives and/or purchase lighting directly at a discount, many municipalities in the region have already replaced outdated interior and exterior lighting with energy-saving LEDs – helping to improve safety while also generating savings to reinvest elsewhere.

Whether you’re interested in Strategic Energy Management, improving the efficiency of your motors and drives, upgrading to more LEDs, or all three, PECO offers assistance to help you save. But, hurry! Incentives expire early next year and projects must be completed before May 15, 2021. Visit peco.com/muni, call 1-844-4BIZ-SAVE or contact your PECO account representative.

Limited, no-contact pickup means only old, working fridges and freezers located in a garage, an outdoor covered porch or an outbuilding qualify for pick up. PECO will also pick up a room AC unit at the same time. This is for the safety of our customers and our pickup crews.

PECO will not enter customers’ homes to pick up fridges and freezers until it is deemed safe to do so. Customers can request to be placed on PECO’s in-home pickup waitlist until in-home pickups resume.

To schedule a limited, no-contact pickup or to request to be placed on PECO’s in-home pickup waitlist, customers should call 1-888-5-PECO-SAVE (1-888-573-2672). Learn more about PECO’s no contact pickup program.

If they prefer, customers can request to be placed on PECO’s in-home energy checkup waitlist, until in-home energy checkups resume. Customers may also order an energy savings kit to be shipped to their home in lieu of the virtual or in-home energy checkup.

To schedule a virtual energy checkup; to order an energy savings kit; or to schedule an in-home checkup at a later date, CAP customers should call 1-855-270-7327. Learn more information about PECO’s energy savings program for CAP customers.

Through the PECO Green Region Open Space Program, PECO provides grant awards up to $10,000. A committee composed of county officials, conservation professionals, and PECO representatives review proposals and awards the grants annually. The grants must be used with funding from other sources and may cover expenses such as consulting fees, trail construction, land acquisition, habitat improvement, and/or the cost of creating and implementing an open space plan. PECO Green Region grant applications are only accepted through the online portal, which can be found at www.natlands.org/greenregion. The application submission deadline for 2020 grant round funding requests is 5:00pm, Saturday, October 31, 2020.

Since PECO Green Region’s inception in 2004, over $2.3 million has been awarded across the region for a wide range of open space projects. If you are undertaking an open space project, we hope you’ll consider applying for a PECO Green Region grant. We hope that PECO Green Region funds will make a real difference as you work to preserve and protect farmland, watersheds, parks, and trails for this and future generations.

If you have questions or need additional information, please contact Estelle Wynn Dolan, administrator of the PECO Green Region Open Space Program, by calling 610-353-5587 ext. 213, or by email at edolan@natlands.org. We look forward to the opportunity to support your conservation efforts.

Did You Know:

At PECO, we are committed to providing safe and reliable energy for our customers and the communities we serve. As part of our commitment, PECO is requesting to be notified of all proposed blasting activities within our service territory.

This notification during the application process will allow PECO to coordinate directly with the applicant to ensure that the proposed blasting can safely be performed near PECO’s electric and natural gas facilities. When an applicant is proposing to blast within your jurisdiction, please have the applicant contact PECO directly.

When there is a major storm event and PECO activates its Emergency Operations Center, designated crews are assigned to ensure PECO wires are de-energized and made safe. This allows the local jurisdiction to follow and remove the debris and re-open the road. The successful execution of this process requires coordination between the municipalities, counties and PECO. The established process is outlined below:

1. Municipality reports a road closure to the County and includes the nearest address and cross streets.

2. The County reports the road closure to PECO with the pre-designated prioritization.

3. PECO dispatches the resources to de-energize PECO electrical lines and notifies the county when a crew is dispatched.

4. PECO notifies the county when the electric lines have been made safe.

5. The County notifies the relevant municipality that PECO has made the electric lines safe and it is safe to remove the other debris and re-open the road.

6. The Municipality clears the remaining debris and re-opens the road.