ComEd 2008 Annual Report Download - page 7

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Our฀power฀marketing฀team฀again฀made฀the฀most฀of฀Generation’s฀outstanding฀performance.฀The฀benefit฀
of฀a฀hardheaded฀approach฀to฀risk฀management฀has฀never฀been฀more฀evident.฀Power฀Team’s฀hedging฀
efforts฀were฀instrumental฀in฀securing฀our฀earnings฀and฀cash฀flow฀in฀this฀most฀volatile฀of฀years.฀We฀owe฀
much฀to฀Ian฀McLean,฀Ken฀Cornew,฀Joe฀Glace฀and฀their฀experienced฀team฀for฀their฀conservative฀stewardship.
Our฀delivery฀companies฀kept฀the฀lights฀on฀and฀the฀gas฀flowing.฀The฀death฀of฀ComEd’s฀Alex฀Collazo฀after฀
an฀underground฀contact฀accident฀reminds฀us฀how฀dangerous฀this฀work฀is฀and฀the฀importance฀of฀safety฀
for฀our฀employees฀and฀customers.฀While฀our฀outage฀frequency฀and฀customer฀satisfaction฀statistics฀
improved,฀outage฀duration฀performance฀was฀less฀impressive,฀in฀part฀because฀of฀a฀difficult฀summer฀
storm฀season.฀In฀June,฀PECO฀faced฀several฀days฀of฀extraordinary฀heat฀and฀humidity฀that฀resulted฀in฀the฀
fifth฀highest฀electric฀demand฀in฀the฀company’s฀history.฀This฀stretch฀was฀immediately฀followed฀by฀a฀violent฀
storm฀resulting฀in฀outages฀affecting฀more฀than฀150,000฀customers.฀Thanks฀to฀Denis฀O’Brien’s฀leadership฀
and฀the฀efforts฀of฀hundreds฀of฀crews,฀over฀82,000฀customers฀were฀restored฀within฀10฀hours.฀Similarly,฀
in฀August,฀ComEd฀experienced฀the฀second฀largest฀storm฀of฀the฀past฀10฀years.฀High฀winds,฀more฀than฀
85,000฀lightning฀strikes฀and฀numerous฀tornadoes฀resulted฀in฀520,000฀customers฀losing฀power.฀Yet฀
despite฀the฀severity฀of฀the฀storm,฀ComEd฀teams฀restored฀87฀percent฀of฀customers฀within฀24฀hours,฀and฀
98฀percent฀within฀48฀hours.฀Frank฀Clark,฀Barry฀Mitchell฀and฀many฀dedicated฀employees฀who฀labored฀
around฀the฀clock฀deserve฀enormous฀credit.฀฀
Our฀delivery฀companies฀also฀made฀steady฀financial฀progress.฀PECO฀secured฀a฀fair฀outcome฀in฀its฀first฀
gas฀delivery฀rate฀case฀since฀1988.฀The฀Pennsylvania฀Public฀Utilities฀Commission฀unanimously฀approved฀
an฀annual฀rate฀increase฀of฀$77฀million฀that฀will฀help฀fund฀both฀assistance฀to฀low-income฀consumers฀
and฀$280฀million฀of฀system฀investments฀over฀the฀next฀five฀years.฀In฀September,฀the฀Illinois฀Commerce฀
Commission฀awarded฀ComEd฀a฀$274฀million฀revenue฀increase฀for฀electric฀delivery฀service.฀The฀ruling฀will฀
enable฀ComEd฀to฀continue฀to฀underwrite฀infrastructure฀improvements฀and฀advance฀efforts฀to฀develop฀
Smart฀Grid฀technologies.฀Anne฀Pramaggiore฀and฀her฀team฀have฀begun฀the฀long฀process฀of฀restoring฀
ComEd฀to฀financial฀health.
Our฀finance฀group,฀under฀the฀leadership฀of฀Ian฀McLean฀and฀Matt฀Hilzinger,฀again฀delivered฀the฀financial฀
discipline฀you฀have฀come฀to฀expect.฀Following฀on฀our฀$1.25฀billion฀share฀repurchase฀in฀February฀of฀2007,฀
we฀executed฀a฀$500฀million฀share฀repurchase฀in฀accordance฀with฀our฀Value฀Return฀policy.฀We฀also฀
increased฀our฀dividend฀to฀$2.10฀annualized,฀reinforcing฀our฀belief฀in฀the฀sustainability฀of฀our฀financial฀
and฀operating฀performance.฀We฀issued฀or฀refinanced฀more฀than฀$2.2฀billion฀of฀long-term฀debt฀at฀very฀
attractive฀rates.฀Our฀decision฀in฀2006฀to฀secure฀credit฀facilities฀of฀more฀than฀$7฀billion฀proved฀invaluable฀
in฀a฀year฀marked฀by฀record฀commodity฀prices฀and฀the฀failures฀and฀near-failures฀of฀numerous฀lenders฀
and฀counterparties.฀
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