ComEd appears to have hit a setback with its proposal to build a substation in Lincoln Park — a plan that has drawn fierce pushback from neighborhood groups.
Administrative law judges for the Illinois Commerce Commission said in a filing last week that the utility giant didn't justify its need for the substation. The filing was a response to ComEd’s multiyear grid plan that includes building five substations.
ComEd has argued the new Lincoln Park substation is necessary to relieve capacity constraints and strengthen the grid. Its most recent forecasts show substations serving Lake View, North Center, Uptown and the northern part of Lincoln Park are projected to exceed 95% capacity by 2026, which the utility argues could result in brownouts, blackouts and less reliable service.
And ComEd wants to build a new substation at 1111 W. Diversey Parkway, a former COVID-19 testing facility, to better serve those neighborhoods.
But the utility didn't convince judges at the ICC that a substation of its proposed size is needed. The three judges recommended the ICC consider a more “appropriately scaled project” in upcoming rate proceedings, if ComEd proposes one.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the Citizens Utility Board also condemned the substation and its scale in their testimonies.
CUB argued a five-transformer substation would be overbuilding compared to power demand forecasts. It pointed to ComEd predicting a 3% load growth rate for the North Side in its proposed grid plan, compared to 6% growth between 2021 and 2025. That’s a “significant deceleration” that doesn’t justify three or more new transformers in Lincoln Park, CUB said.
ComEd said in a statement to the Sun-Times: "The [administrative law judges] did not reject the proposed location of the substation at 1111 W. Diversey. Rather, we understand them to be seeking greater clarification regarding the number of transformers needed to meet the needs of the community. Our grid plan indicates a need for three transformers. We are working to provide a more detailed look at the equipment within the substation needed to match the projected growth of the neighborhoods. Our goal remains to deliver that additional capacity reliably, cost-effectively and in a timely manner. We will continue to advocate for a Grid Plan that meets the evolving energy needs of the more than 400 communities we serve."
The judges’ recommendation is being heralded as a win by the Diversey Community Coalition, a neighborhood group formed earlier this year in response to ComEd’s substation proposal. The group mobilized more than 1,000 individuals to submit public comments to the ICC in opposition to the substation. It also held a September rally with lawmakers outside the proposed substation to draw more attention to the proposal.
“It is clearly time for ComEd to come to the table and work with the Coalition, our elected officials and the community on a different path forward that puts the community first,” the Diversey Community Coalition said in a statement.
Marie Poppy, one of the coalition's co-founders, said she isn’t surprised by the outpouring of public comments.
“We knew from talking with the community and the turnout at these community meetings” that people were passionate, Poppy said. “People are asking, ‘What can I do?’ These people felt really helpless.”
The coalition’s aim is to block the project so the land can instead be sold to a developer who would build housing.
The site is about 735 feet from the Diversey CTA station, making it an equitable transit-oriented development site. Streets within half a mile of a CTA or Metra train station or a quarter of a mile from a qualifying CTA bus line are eligible for a transit-oriented development designation, which opens up a developer's access to grants and reduces development costs, according to the city.
Neighbors have been disappointed with ComEd’s response to the coalition’s calls for a different location to be found.
The coalition, in partnership with local Ald. Timmy Knudsen (43rd) and consultants, found 14 alternative sites where a new substation could be built in the area. They included a Jewel-Osco parking lot on North Clybourn Avenue and a 1.2-acre lot on Diversey Parkway.
ComEd has rejected all of them.
Knudsen wrote a letter to ComEd in September asking it to answer 10 questions that would clarify how the utility evaluated the 14 sites. While ComEd responded to Knudsen, he said in a statement last week that “the reply falls short of delivering the robust, data-driven explanations requested, leaving several critical questions unaddressed.”
The deadline for the ICC to take action on ComEd's grid plan is Dec. 15 and would include the approval or rejection of the Lincoln Park substation.
