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[Lightningrod]

ComEd is getting into the solar business.

Later this year, the Chicago utility company will mount solar panels on the roofs of 100 homes in the near west suburbs and possibly the city's Near West Side.

The utility will outfit 50 of those homes with smart electric meters, hourly electric pricing, battery solar-power storage and the ability to gain credits for emitting excess solar power back to the electric grid for others' use. The other 50 will get those same additions, except they won't be able to store their energy.

"We want to see whether consumers have the ability, with this technology, to become little utilities. They will be able to buy and sell electricity at a real-time hourly price, which is very close to the wholesale price, from their homes," said Val Jensen, ComEd's vice president for marketing and environmental programs.


http://www.suntimes.com/business/2075886,C...solar01.article