Press release
ComEd, PLCCA Team Up to Help Low-Income Communities Benefit from Cleaner Energy Technologies
Through ComEd’s Climate-Friendly Nonprofit Grant program, Maywood-based nonprofit also creates more than 30 jobs CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- More than 400
About this update from Exelon Corporation
[{"type":"text","content":"\nThrough ComEd’s Climate-Friendly Nonprofit Grant program, Maywood-based nonprofit also creates more than 30 jobs\n\n\n CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nMore than 400 families and businesses in environmental justice communities across Chicago and its suburbs are now pre-qualified for the installation of rooftop solar panels, with more getting help connecting to community solar programs.\n\n\nThese efforts are being made through ComEd’s Climate-Friendly Nonprofit Grant program, which recently provided a $450,000 grant to Proviso Leyden Council for Community Action (PLCCA), a nonprofit that administers workforce development programs to low-income residents.\n\n\nPLCCA is one of three nonprofit organizations that each recently received a grant through the ComEd program, which is designed to expand and improve access to climate-friendly and complementary programs for under-resourced neighborhoods across northern Illinois. Reports show climate change disproportionately impacts these communities and leaves residents more exposed to harmful air pollution.\n\n\n“As ComEd prepares for a decarbonized future, it’s important that families across the entire economic spectrum have equal access to climate-friendly programs that will help improve their quality of life,” said Melissa Washington, senior vice president of customer operations and chief customer officer, ComEd. “I’m proud of the way our three grantees have found creative ways to lift up families and businesses in under-resourced communities.”\n\n\nThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines environmental justice as “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.”\n\n\nTo help families and businesses in these communities lower and manage electric bills, PLCCA launched the Solar, Jobs and Justice program. The program partners with local nonprofit organizations to hire and train residents from these same communities to help educate community members on the benefits of – and help connect them to – solar energy. The transition can help decarbonize neighborhoods that tend to be the most impacted by high concentrations of air pollutants and other environmental concerns.\n\n\nSince October 2022, PLCCA has used...