Exhibit 99.2
[ComEd Logo]
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News Release An Exelon Company
From: Commonwealth Edison FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Relations ---------------------
P.O. Box 805379 Thursday, October 10, 2002
Chicago, IL 60680-5379
Contact: Tabrina Davis
312.394.3500
Consultant Report Revisits ComEd's 1999 Problems and 2000 Improvement Work
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ComEd Says Results Show Money to Improve Reliability Was Well Spent
and That Customers Are Paying Lower Rates Now than in 1999
CHICAGO - Commonwealth Edison officials said today that a report by Liberty
Consulting revisits well-publicized reports about the company's past reliability
and management problems, but said the company has already admitted its mistakes
and moved on with substantial improvements. Customers are experiencing 47
percent fewer outages than in 1998, and when outages do occur ComEd is restoring
power more quickly. The length of outages has decreased by 64 percent.
"Everyone knows ComEd had problems a few years back. The important thing is that
we admitted our mistakes and got to work improving our system," said ComEd
President Frank Clark. "ComEd today is a vastly different company than the one
described in this report. Reliability is better and rates are lower than they
were in 1999."
The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) sponsored this most recent review of
ComEd's past as part of the process to establish ComEd's "delivery service
charges." ComEd agreed to this review. The delivery service charges under review
apply only to customers who choose to purchase their electricity from an
alternative supplier or under ComEd's Power Purchase Option. These customers pay
a regulated charge that allows ComEd to maintain the network of substations and
wires that deliver power to homes and businesses.
ComEd's proposed delivery service charges average 1.93 cents per kilowatt/hour,
which is approximately 20 percent less than the average rate charged by other
utilities that have recently set delivery services rates. None of ComEd's 3.2
million residential customers currently pay the delivery service charge.
Year 2000 Was One of "Extraordinary Accomplishment" at ComEd
As is customary, the Liberty report recommends a reduction of ComEd's proposed
delivery service charges. However, the report acknowledges that ComEd kept its
promise to improve service in the wake of the 1999 outages. "The year 2000 was
one of extraordinary accomplishment at ComEd," the report observes. It goes on
to say:
"Spurred by public and regulatory concern, by the vision of new executives
brought in to lead its delivery of service, and by obligations that arose
from litigation by the City of Chicago, ComEd has since 1999 been
undertaking:
o A thorough, accelerated inspection of its existing system
o The correction of once-neglected maintenance and repairs discovered
through these inspections
o The addition of major new facilities that corrected what had become
over time a structural flaw in the design of the network that
distributes electricity in the City of Chicago and the rest of the
Company's service area."
(more)
ComEd
Page 2 of 2
Liberty's central claim is that in ComEd's admittedly successful efforts to
improve service rapidly, some work ended up costing more than it could have.
ComEd officials acknowledged that while hindsight is always 20/20, the proof of
the company's work is in the results. "This was money well spent. We kept our
promise and fixed our reliability problems quickly," said Clark.
ComEd Residential Customer Pay Less for Better Reliability
While ComEd's reliability was improving, the rates paid by its residential
customers were going down. Residential customers are paying electric rates today
that are 5 percent lower than they were in 1999, thanks to an October 2001 rate
cut mandated by the Illinois General Assembly. This 5 percent rate cut is in
addition to a 15 percent rate cut that took effect in August 1998; both cuts
were part of the 1997 Illinois restructuring law. In all, ComEd's residential
customers are paying lower rates today than they were in 1990 - and these lower
rates are frozen until 2007. The rate freeze applies to all ComEd customers and
means they have the protection of a low rate that cannot go up, and the freedom
to shop for a better deal from another supplier.
Report Is One Step in Process
On June 1, 2001, ComEd filed with the ICC to establish delivery service charges
for residential customers in preparation for residential customer choice, which
began in May 2002. The filing also updated delivery service charges for
non-residential customers. The ICC approved initial residential delivery service
charges on April 1, 2002, pending results of the audit and further proceedings;
non-residential charges will be revised in the litigation following the audit.
Now that Liberty has filed its report, the process moves on to the next phase
later this year, when the ICC will hold hearings on the Liberty report and
ComEd's response. A final decision should come sometime in the middle of 2003.
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Commonwealth Edison is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC),
one of the nation's largest electric utilities with more than $15 billion in
revenues and a customer base of five million. ComEd provides service to more
than 3.4 million customers across Northern Illinois, or nearly 70 percent of the
state's population.