Hiring begins for new ‘smart grid’
BY FRAN SPIELMAN fspielman@suntimes.com January 5, 2012 7:55PM
Mayor Rahm Emanuel and ComEd President and COO Anne Pramaggiore announce elements of a $1.1 bilion electric system infrastructure investment plan at the Robert W. Galvin Center on the campus of IIT, 10 W. 35th St. Wednesday, January 4, 2012. | Brian Jackson~Sun-Times
Article Extras
Updated: February 7, 2012 8:18AM
With a promise of 2,400 jobs for Chicago, ComEd launched the hiring blitz it promised in exchange for a $2.6 billion rate hike that will finance “smart-grid” technology.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel held a news conference with ComEd President Anne Pramaggiore to tout the benefits of legislation denounced by Gov. Pat Quinn as “smart greed” for the campaign contributions the utility lathered on state lawmakers who overrode the governor’s veto.
The hiring will begin with 350 to 400 Chicago jobs this year and up to 2,400 over the next decade, Pramaggiore said. That rosy figure includes 1,000 construction jobs, much of it tied to regular system upgrades. They include putting some power lines underground, shoring up above-ground lines to insulate them from wind and tree damage, making $50 million in improvements at O’Hare and Midway Airports and upgrading the Crawford and Fisk substations.
Another 1,000 jobs will be tied to energy efficiency and renewable energy programs. Annual spending on those projects is expected to increase by at least $40 million or 26.6 percent, under the smart-grid legislation.
Pramaggiore predicted that 150 jobs would be generated by a $22.5 million Science and Energy trust fund created to support “energy innovation entrepreneurs.”
The final 150 jobs will be created by two companies hired by ComEd to support the smart-grid system that will allow consumers to monitor their energy use.
They are: Silver Spring Networks, the Silicon Valley-based company hired to design and deploy the networking platform and communications system and Choctaw-Kaul Distribution, a Native-American owned distributor that will provide ComEd with the power tools and protective safety equipment needed to do the work.
Comments Click here to view or make a comment