If you are building, expanding or moving into a site that ComEd's distribution system does not already reach, someone has to pay to get the wires there. Rider DE, the Distribution System Extensions rider, decides who.
The answer is not a fixed price list. It is a threshold test, and the interesting part is that the threshold moves depending on facts about you rather than about the construction.
The rule in one paragraph
ComEd will extend its distribution system to a point adjacent to your property line on written request. If the estimated cost does not exceed a figure the tariff calls the Extension Deposit Threshold, you pay no deposit. If it exceeds the threshold, you pay a deposit, refundable over ten years as the site generates delivery revenue.
So "who pays" has three possible answers: ComEd absorbs it, you deposit and get it back, or you deposit and do not get all of it back. Which one you land in is decided by two numbers.
The threshold moves if you can prove you are staying
By default, the Extension Deposit Threshold equals what the tariff calls the Standard Extension Cost.
But if you provide ComEd with proof of ownership or a signed lease for the premises, and you successfully complete a credit evaluation and risk screening, the threshold becomes the greater of the Standard Extension Cost or the Five Year Expected Delivery Revenue from the site.
That is a meaningful lever and it is easy to miss. Five years of expected delivery revenue from a site with real load is frequently a larger number than the standard allowance, and every dollar the threshold rises is a dollar of deposit you do not have to find. A tenant with a signed lease and a clean credit file is in a materially better position than one who has not bothered to assemble either, on the same construction job.
Do this before the estimate arrives, not after. Turning up with the lease and the credit information already in hand changes which threshold you are measured against.
The refund is conditioned on the load you promised
Here is the part that turns into an expensive surprise, and it runs in the opposite direction to the incentive above.
Deposits are refundable for ten years from the date the extension goes into service, computed against the incremental energy delivered to the premises and the revenue ComEd receives from the applicable delivery facilities and transmission charges on it. Use more, get more back.
On top of that, there is an accelerator. Where five to ten years have elapsed since the extension went into service, and the average of your monthly maximum kilowatt demands over the previous twelve billing periods is at least 75 percent of the originally projected kilowatt requirement for the extension, ComEd refunds whatever portion of the deposit remains.
Read those two together and the trap is visible. The projected kilowatt requirement you give ComEd is used to size the extension, and it is also the denominator in the test that releases your money. Overstate it and you have raised the bar your operation must clear five years later. Understate it and the extension may be undersized for what you eventually run.
The projection should be your honest expected demand. Not your nameplate connected load, and not a number chosen to make a conversation easier. Nameplate totals routinely run well above the demand a site actually establishes, because equipment does not all run at once. If your projection is a nameplate sum, you are very likely writing down a number your metered demand will never reach.
That gap between connected equipment and measured demand is exactly what an interval record settles, and if you have a comparable site you can measure it there rather than estimate it here.
Three options worth knowing about
A letter of credit instead of cash. You may provide an irrevocable letter of credit in ComEd's favour, from a financial institution, for the amount of the deposit that would otherwise be required. If the cost of the letter of credit is below your cost of capital on the cash, this is simply cheaper.
A separate parallel extension. If your premises could be served by a parallel, separate extension for less than the deposit required to connect to an existing one, you cannot be required to deposit more than the cost of that separate extension. The trade is that you then do not share in refunds applicable to the existing extension.
Group decisions. Where one extension serves several premises and the requesting entity is a group, a majority decides which option is implemented.
Refunds never exceed the original deposit, and if a refund is still due from a previous deposit, any further extension requires a deposit equal to the full estimated cost of that work. Phasing a build has a cost that is not visible in a single-phase quote.
What to establish before you request service
Your honest projected demand in kilowatts, measured from a comparable operating site if you have one. This number sets the extension, the possible threshold and the refund test, so it is the highest leverage input in the process.
Proof of ownership or a signed lease, plus your credit information, assembled before the estimate so the higher threshold is available to you.
Which underlying rules apply. The rider operates subject to sections 410.400 and 410.410 of 83 Illinois Administrative Code Part 410, which is state regulation rather than ComEd policy. If a dispute arises about what the utility is obliged to build, that is where the obligation lives.
Does ComEd charge to extend power lines to a new commercial site?
Only where the estimated cost of the extension exceeds the Extension Deposit Threshold. Below that threshold no deposit is required. Above it, a refundable deposit is required, computed under Rider DE.
How can I lower the deposit ComEd asks for?
Provide proof of ownership or a signed lease for the premises and complete ComEd's credit evaluation and risk screening. That raises the threshold to the greater of the Standard Extension Cost or the Five Year Expected Delivery Revenue from the site, and a higher threshold means a smaller or no deposit.
Is a ComEd line extension deposit refundable?
Yes, over ten years from the in-service date, based on the incremental energy delivered and the associated delivery charge revenue. Refunds never exceed the original deposit amount.
What happens if my site uses less power than I projected?
The accelerated full refund available after five years requires the average of your monthly maximum demands over the previous twelve billing periods to be at least 75 percent of the originally projected kilowatt requirement. An inflated projection makes that test harder to pass and can leave part of your deposit unrefunded.
Can I use a letter of credit instead of paying a cash deposit?
Yes. The rider allows an irrevocable letter of credit in ComEd's favour from a financial institution, in an amount equal to the otherwise required deposit.