Joseph Dominguez moved his family from Pennsylvania to Chicago to take on the role as ComEd’s new CEO, replacing Anne Pramaggiore who has a new role with the company.
Just three and half months into the job, among his top priorities he said, is making sure there’s equitable distribution across all economic spectrums to ensure all ComEd customers have an opportunity to share in all the utility company has to offer. He pointed to clean energy and the Community Solar Development program as an example of ways Com Ed is working to make benefits accessible for all customers.
“A lot of suburban customers own their homes and have roof tops [in which] they can install solar panels,” Dominguez said. “However, for customers in the city who may not own or are economically challenged, it may not be an option. For those customers, we’re talking about installing at bigger sites and individuals can buy a share in those solar farms. We are trying to push that so that solar energy is available to all ComEd customers.”
The ICC last year approved ComEd’s plan to expand energy choices in Illinois by opening the market for community energy. Community solar development is a feature of the Future Energy Jobs Act.
Community renewable projects are designed to provide access to renewables, particularly solar to customers who want to share in the benefits of renewables, but for whom a private solar unit may not be feasible.
By subscribing to a community-scale project, customers can reap the environmental and financial benefits renewables have to offer without the investment required by private solar projects.
Owners or operators of a Community Supply project would produce and provide energy to the grid, while subscribers to the project would receive credits based on their share of the total energy produced.
The idea is to make it easier for all customers to take advantage of clean energy and to grow renewable energy like solar power in the state.
As CEO, Dominguez is responsible for the safe and reliable delivery of electricity to ComEd customers. In addition to overseeing management of Chicago’s electric grid (the electric transmission and distribution system that links power plants to customers), his responsibilities include overseeing management of the electric grid for most of northern Illinois as well as ComEd’s partnerships.
An Exelon company, ComEd provides energy to more than four million residential and business customers, 70 percent of Illinois’ population.
Prior to joining ComEd, Dominguez served as executive vice president of governmental and regulatory affairs and public policy for ComEd’s parent company Exelon.
In that role, Dominguez led the development and implementation of federal, state, and regional governmental, regulatory, and public policy strategies for one of the nation’s largest electric companies with approximately $34 billion in annual revenues.
Prior to joining Exelon, Dominguez was a partner in the law firm White and Williams, LLP, with a broad-based litigation practice counseling large and small corporations, institutions, and government entities. He is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where he spearheaded the investigation and prosecution of numerous crimes ranging from money laundering to murder-for-hire.
Dominguez earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He earned his law degree from Rutgers University School of Law, where he graduated magna cum laude, and was recognized as a Dean’s Scholar and the school’s Ralph Bunche Distinguished Fellowship Scholar.
New at ComEd
Dominguez told the Defender that Com Ed has also incorporated new technologies to improve the grid to accept more renewable energy and fewer outages, and more equitable distribution of clean energy to ensure that low-income residents are not left out. These are among his top priorities, something he stressed throughout the conversation.
ComEd’s customer assistance programs include a combination of programs funded by ComEd and programs funded by the state of Illinois or the federal government.
“There will be changes to the customer assistance programs we offer,” Dominguez said. “Current programs are inadequate, poorly designed and not being fully utilized.”
Dominguez is also focusing on consumer protections.
“There also are inadequate consumer protections,” Dominguez said. ”Most energy businesses operate properly but there are bad actors. We do think people should have a choice and we welcome retail electric competition with (legitimate) companies, but there are some bad apples in every bunch and they are going door-to-door (and over the phone) saying they are signing people up for discounted rates and some of them are lying saying they are from ComEd to get the sale. We do not ever send people out door-to-door. If anyone shows up at your door saying they are from ComEd, shut the door because that is a scam. We owe it to our customers and the good actors to clean it up. We’re trying to get legislation to deal with that.”
To address the issue, ComEd is joining more than 100 energy companies across the U. S. and Canada in the effort to protect customers from scams targeting customers of electric, natural gas, water, and other utilities.
Energy companies for a third year designated Nov. 14 as Utilities United Against Scams Day, a weeklong campaign, including social media and online content, focused on exposing the tricks scammers use to steal money from customers and how customers can protect themselves. The effort, which includes industry member organizations such as Edison Electric Institute, encourages companies to share the messages to help guard against scam and imposter activity.
Customers who fall victim to scams typically receive an unsolicited phone call from someone who falsely claims to be a company representative. The scammer warns that the customer’s service will be shut off if they fail to make a payment – usually within a short timeframe through a prepaid debit card.
Some scammers copy the upfront Interactive Voice Response system of some companies, so that when customers call the number the scammer provides, it sounds like a legitimate business. Some scammers also use caller ID “spoofing” to replicate a utility company’s phone number.
Customers can avoid being scammed by taking a few precautions:
- Never provide social security numbers or personal information to anyone initiating contact claiming to be a utility representative or asking the customer to send money to another person or entity other than the local utility providers.
- Always ask to see a company photo ID before allowing any utility worker into a home or business.
- Never make a payment for services to anyone coming to the door of a home or business.
Any ComEd customer who believes they have been a target of a scam should contact their local police and call the company immediately at 1-800-334-7661 to report the situation. For additional information, please go to www.ComEd.com/scams.
Climate Change and Environmental Concerns
“I don’t think the clean energy movement is a choice,” Dominguez said. “Climate concerns are real and there are steps we have to take. We can’t look at the intensity of the storms and the man-made emissions and deny there’s a problem. It’s our responsibility at ComEd and all of us collectively have a big role…businesses and universities… to deliver the talent, [and call on] Springfield for legislation. Our expectations will be at the state level until things change in the current administration.”
Diversity at ComEd
About half of ComEd’s employees are diverse (i.e., women and/or people of color). Last year alone, about 70 percent of new hires were diverse. Three-quarters of ComEd’s executive team is diverse.
In terms of ComEd’s spend with diverse suppliers: ComEd set a goal of increasing its diverse spend to 38 percent in 2018, and is on track to achieving that goal – a total of well over $500 million for the year. ComEd’s $3.3 billion in Illinois diverse spend between 2011 and 2017 reflects a four-fold increase in diverse spend over six years, according to information provided by ComEd.
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