Goats will clear grass and brush under power lines to support sustainable, reliable energy

Nearly a dozen of ComEd’s four-legged employees are celebrating their last week of summer by participating in a small boat goat parade along the Chicago River, before they head off to clear brush under hard-to-reach power lines in Matthiessen State Park in LaSalle County, Ill. Ten goats will spend today cruising the Chicago River, while increasing awareness around ComEd’s goat vegetation management program.

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Nearly a dozen goats took to the Chicago River Wednesday, Aug. 31, before heading off to clear vegetation under ComEd’s hard-to-reach power lines. The energy company employs goats whose work helps avoid outages for ComEd customers, lowers safety risks for workers and reduces air emissions from fuel-burning equipment. (Photo: Business Wire)

“ComEd is excited to bring the goats back to Chicago this year to highlight one of the innovative and sustainable ways we help ensure families and businesses throughout northern Illinois have reliable power,” said Gil Quiniones, CEO at ComEd. “This event provides our hardworking goats with a much-needed celebration and fun opportunity to engage with the customers they serve.”

The goats will cruise down the river in five boats, with an additional boat carrying members of the ComEd team, between the City Winery Chicago Dock, Michigan Avenue Bridge and Wolf Point on Wednesday, Aug. 31, from 12 to 3 p.m.

This marks the second consecutive year of ComEd’s goats visiting the Chicago River. In July 2021, goats cruised along the Chicago River as they took a break from clearing vegetation in Pekin, Ill.

Each summer since 2019, over 200 goats have supported ComEd in clearing vegetation in places that are difficult to access. The goats play a critical role in helping ComEd avoid outages and service disruptions due to overgrown vegetation near power lines. Among its benefits, the program drives maximum efficiency of this work, cutting the cost and time by more than half, while also reducing safety risks for workers and air emissions from fuel-burning equipment.

To learn more about the goats, visit ComEd.com/Goats and check out ComEd’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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.

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