ComEd Installs Renewable Off-Grid Streetlights at Chicago Public Schools on Chicago’s South Side
July 28 2022 - 1:59PM
Business Wire
Solar-and wind-powered streetlights help
enhance public safety on school campuses
Washington Park and Bronzeville just got brighter as ComEd today
announced that it has completed the installation of new renewable,
off-grid streetlights at two Chicago Public Schools (CPS) on
Chicago’s south side.
“Our commitment to the communities we serve goes beyond
delivering clean, reliable and affordable power to families and
businesses. This partnership with Chicago Public Schools and local
stakeholders is an example of our dedication to community
collaboration to identify and execute solutions to local issues,”
ComEd CEO Gil C. Quiniones. “In addition to public safety benefits,
students will enjoy a new STEM curriculum designed around the new
technology right outside their schools.”
Five streetlights were installed at Walter H. Dyett High School
for the Arts in the Washington Park neighborhood, and two
streetlights were installed at Perspectives Math and Science
Academy Project in the Bronzeville neighborhood. Today, the
off-grid lights were officially activated at Walter H. Dyett High
School for the Arts in a ribbon-cutting ceremony with expected
attendance by Quiniones, Dyett Principal Cortez McCoy, ARIS CEO Dan
Connors and 4th Ward Alderman Sophia King.
Manufactured by ARIS Renewable Energy, these off-grid
streetlights feature miniature power plants – called Remote Power
Units or RPUs – that are not connected to the energy grid but draw
energy from wind turbines, solar panels and battery storage,
providing more dependable power to provide a safer passage to
students and local residents alike. The renewable energy within the
streetlights also creates battery storage that results in a
self-powered internet connection, allowing students to connect to
Wi-Fi as needed.
“It has been gratifying to support this project. Public safety
around Dyett High School will be improved by this project while
providing a template for how we should use opportunities to
increase environmental sustainability of our local communities,”
said King. “This public/private partnership also provides an
opportunity to enhance exposure of STEM-based learning
opportunities to our local students. In essence, the project is
lighting the way to future career opportunities for our children
and providing sustainable infrastructure for our local
community.”
Part of ComEd’s Community of the Future, ComEd worked in
collaboration with Bronzeville community leaders to address the
neighborhood’s needs for more sustainable and reliable smart-grid
technology through renewable energy.
ComEd will work with the administrations at Dyett and
Perspectives schools to develop a STEM curriculum based on the
technology and operations of the streetlights. This will help
teachers engage students on the subject of solar energy generation
and demonstrate how off-grid solar and wind energy and battery
systems can be used to power streetlights – with real-world
examples accessible just outside the schools.
“I am super excited to have the ARIS lights installed here at
Dyett High School. All of our school stakeholders have wanted this
for a very long time,” said McCoy. “This will make our campus
grounds safe for all of our students, staff, parents and members of
the community. This will also give our students the opportunity to
explore careers in STEM. We are so appreciative of this
opportunity. Thank you so much to everyone that made this
possible.”
Through this new curriculum, students will learn about the
auxiliary renewable power sources combining wind and solar energy
that enables the streetlights to be operated and monitored
remotely. With the streetlights right outside their classrooms,
students will gain education and real-world examples of sustainable
technology for their communities and their futures.
In 2019, ComEd partnered with CPS to pilot solar, wind and
battery-powered lighting units at Beethoven Elementary School and
Dunbar Vocational High School as part of its Bronzeville Community
of the Future. Similar to the streetlights being installed at Dyett
and Perspectives, these lighting units influence and inform STEM
curricula at both schools, keep students and families safer, and
contribute to the neighborhood's renewable energy goals.
Since 2016, ComEd has partnered with the Bronzeville
neighborhood to create a greener, more connected and a more
resilient community through innovative and renewable technologies.
Through the STEM education programs for Bronzeville and
Chicago-area high school students, students gain skillsets that
prepare them for future careers in sustainable energy. ComEd
announced in April that they are also expanding the Community of
the Future to a second neighborhood in Rockford, Ill.
ComEd is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ:
EXC), a Fortune 200 energy company with approximately 10 million
electricity and natural gas customers – the largest number of
customers in the U.S. ComEd powers the lives of more than 4 million
customers across northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state’s
population. For more information visit ComEd.com and connect with
the company on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220728005950/en/
ComEd Media Relations 312-394-3500
Exelon (NYSE:EXC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Exelon (NYSE:EXC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024