Nation’s largest producer of zero-carbon electricity recognized for continued excellence in environmental stewardship, climate change mitigation and community investments
CHICAGO — Exelon Corporation was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index (DJSI) for the 16th consecutive year, once again earning recognition for its leadership in environmental policies, technological innovation and track record of local philanthropy and investments. The global survey evaluated 600 of the largest North American companies on a broad range of sustainability measures.
“As the nation’s largest producer of carbon-free energy, we remain committed to further reducing our emissions, helping our customers use less energy and investing in our communities to make them more sustainable,” said Sunny Elebua, senior vice president, Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer for Exelon. “Climate change is one of the biggest threats we face, and we will continue to invest in innovation and technology to ensure we are providing clean, reliable and sustainable energy to our customers and communities.”
The DJSI assessment is conducted each year by sustainability investment specialist S&P Global CSA. It is based on a comprehensive review of the company’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies and performance in more than 25 major categories. Exelon was one of only seven electric and gas companies named to the North America Index this year.
Exelon continues to show leadership in sustainability throughout our business. Exelon Utilities recently announced its Path to Clean initiative, which includes a commitment to:
- Cut operations-driven emissions in half by 2030;
- Achieve net-zero operations by 2050; and
- Support customers and communities in reaching their clean energy and emissions reduction goals.
Exelon Generation maintains its clean energy leadership as the largest producer of emissions-free power in the nation. Exelon Generation’s fleet provides 12 percent of all U.S. clean energy, nearly double the amount from any other energy company.
Additionally, Exelon and the Exelon Foundation continue to execute on their $20 million Climate Change Investment Initiative (2c2i) to cultivate startups working on new technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Under its third corporate GHG emission reduction goal, the company also is on track to reduce GHG emissions from its internal operations by 15 percent by 2022. The goal is in addition to Exelon’s continuing efforts to reduce emissions through its owned generation fleet -- which is almost 90 percent carbon-free -- and its customer energy efficiency programs, among other initiatives. Energy efficiency programs at its six electric and gas companies saved customers more than 22.3 million megawatt hours of electricity in 2020, avoiding 8.1 million metric tons of CO2e emissions, which is the equivalent of taking almost 1.8 million gasoline-powered cars off the road for a year.
Over the past year, Exelon continued to advance programs and policies to benefit employees and create a more inclusive workforce, earning spots on DiversityInc’s list of the Top 50 Companies for Diversity and Inclusion, Forbes’ America’s Best Employers for Diversity, Human Rights Campaign Best Places to Work, the Disability Equality Index Best Places to Work for People with Disabilities and others. Exelon also has been a member of the Billion Dollar Roundtable since 2017, spending $2.7 billion with diversity-certified suppliers in 2020, an increase of more than 41 percent since 2016.
In 2020, Exelon and its family of companies, employees and the Exelon Foundation provided $58.4 million in funding to local communities, benefitting nearly 4.4 million people, 84 percent ($46 million) of which supported organizations, programs or events that were targeted specifically to diverse populations.
Learn more about Exelon’s sustainability initiatives by visiting its new interactive 2020 Corporate Sustainability Report.