History
Exelon Corporation was created in October 2000 by the merger between PECO Energy Company, formed in 1902, and Unicom Corporation, the parent of Commonwealth Edison, formed in 1907.[3] Unicom was based in Chicago and the city became the headquarters of the new entity. The merger was overseen by the CEO of Unicom, John Rowe, who joined the corporation in 1998 and led the newly formed Exelon until 2012, becoming the nation's longest-serving utility executive.[3][4][5]
On July 31, 2005, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the merger of Exelon and Public Service Enterprise Group, a New Jersey utility;[6] however, after 18 months, the two companies terminated the agreement due to pressure put on the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities by public interest groups, including New Jersey Citizen Action.[7][8]
On March 12, 2012, Exelon acquired Constellation Energy, with the combined company owning more than 34 gigawatts of power generation (55% nuclear, 24% natural gas, 8% renewable including hydro, 7% oil and 6% coal).[9][10]
Exelon announced the proposed purchase of Pepco Holdings on April 30, 2014, for $6.8 billion in an all-cash transaction. The merger faced stiff opposition from community groups and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.[11] The merger was originally rejected by the District of Columbia Public Service Commission in August 2015, though it was approved by other federal and state regulators. The companies appealed the decision.[12] On March 23, 2016, the merger was finally approved by the District of Columbia Public Service Commission after the company made concessions and the merger was completed, making Exelon the largest regulated utility in the United States by customer count and total revenue.[13]
On February 2, 2022, Exelon completed the corporate spin-off of Constellation Energy, its energy generation business.[14] Constellation was the largest operator of nuclear power plants in the United States and the largest non-governmental operator of nuclear power plants in the world. It is also the largest competitive U.S. power generator with approximately 35,500 megawatts of owned capacity. It had full or majority ownership of 23 nuclear reactors in 14 nuclear power plants.[15][16]
