Climate Lobbying Overview: Exelon is strategically engaging on US climate policy with mostly positive positions. The company lobbies actively at the federal, state, and regional levels to promote measures in support of the transition to a zero-carbon power sector.

Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Exelon communicates a clear position in support of climate change science on its corporate website and has advocated to the Biden Administration in 2021 for government responses consistent with IPCC recommendations. The company firmly supports regulatory action on climate change, as evidenced in October 2020 comments to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) criticizing “continued talk about the benefit of placing a meaningful price on carbon emissions, uncoupled from concrete and immediate action.” Additionally, in June 2021 Exelon submitted comments to the Office of Management and Budget advocating for the federal governments to use the social cost of carbon, nitrous oxide, and methane across all relevant areas of decision-making. CEO Chris Crane has advocated for federal climate legislation as a member of the CEO Climate Dialogue in May 2019 and, in a foreword to the company’s 2019 Corporate Sustainability Report, stated support for policies to reduce carbon emissions. Exelon also appears to support the Paris Agreement, applauding the country’s re-entry into the deal in January 2021.

Engagement with Climate-Related Policy: Exelon appears to engage with mostly positive positions on renewable energy legislation, occasionally with a focus on including credits for nuclear energy. In April 2021, Reuters reported on a letter sent by Exelon and twelve other utilities to President Biden, in which they advocated for policies to cut emissions by 80% below 2005 levels by 2030. Exelon has supported federal emissions standards on methane, directly advocating to the EPA to preserve methane regulations in November 2019 and supporting President Biden’s 2021 Executive Order to regulate methane emissions. Exelon has consistently opposed the Minimum Offer Price Rule in the PJM market, sending out a press release in December 2019 stating that the rule undermined state renewable energy programs and more recently, in April 2021, directly advocating to FERC to immediately reform the rule to align it with state clean energy policies. In the 2020 Corporate Sustainability report, the company described its advocacy work toward a national Clean Energy Standard that included credits for nuclear power plants. In June 2019, CEO Chris Crane was quoted by the Washington Examiner to support a federal clean electricity standard, but a May 2021 earnings call transcript suggested the company was hesitant to support President Biden’s proposal for a Clean Energy Standard that did not include nuclear.

On the state level, Exelon appeared to support renewable energy legislation in Illinois on the condition that two of the company’s nuclear plants receive subsidies; as reported by Reuters in September 2021, it appears that the final energy bill includes such provisions. In August 2021, Exelon subsidiary PECO testified in support of Pennsylvania House Bill 1080 for a more ambitious Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard. Exelon has also supported regional emissions trading programs, submitting comments in support of the Transportation and Climate Initiative in April 2021 and New Jersey’s re-entry into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in October 2020. Exelon appears to support energy efficiency legislation, in 2020 supporting New Jersey’s savings targets and lobbying on the federal level for grants to improve the energy efficiency of public buildings. Exelon demonstrates more mixed positions in Maryland: in February 2021, subsidiaries Pepco and Delmarva Power testified in opposition to Maryland House Bill 569 which would double the state’s net metering capacity. In January 2021, Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) and Pepco emphasized the increased costs from the proposed reporting requirements for community solar energy.

Positioning on Energy Transition: Exelon has a broadly positive position on the energy transition, although with some conditions on the roles for fossil gas and nuclear power which may not be fully aligned with IPCC recommendations. The company has been supportive of the Biden administration’s infrastructure proposal, advocating with C2ES in July 2021 for net-zero infrastructure investments and appearing to support a carbon tax with the CEO Climate Dialogue in September 2021. The Washington Examiner reported in September 2021 on Exelon’s support for the Clean Energy Performance Program within the budget reconciliation bill, in which utilities would be paid to generate increasing percentages of clean power and penalized if they failed to do so. On its corporate website, Exelon describes fossil gas as a “bridge to a clean future” without mentioning CCS or methane emissions abatement, while also identifying nuclear power as “fundamental” to the clean energy future and advocating for technology-neutral policy that treats all sources of zero-carbon generation fairly. According to Exelon’s 2021 federal lobbying disclosure reports, the company is advocating for “initiatives to preserve at-risk nuclear plants.” Additionally, in a May 2021 earnings call, CEO Chris Crane expressed support for numerous policy proposals at the federal and state levels that value existing nuclear power. In January 2021, subsidiary BGE opposed Maryland House Bill 298, which would direct the Public Service Commission to consider climate change impacts in its regulations.

Exelon appears to support the electrification of transportation, as evidenced by its April 2021 comments in support for the Transportation and Climate Initiative. In August 2021, Exelon supported President Biden’s Executive Order for all new vehicles sold in 2030 to be zero-emissions vehicles. In March 2021, subsidiary Atlantic City Electric supported New Jersey’s 2025 target of putting 330,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2025. In January 2021, Exelon’s Maryland subsidiaries supported the state’s Clean Cars Act which would expand vehicle electrification. Exelon is also a member of the Ceres-led Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance and the Electric Highway Coalition.

Industry Association Governance: Exelon discloses its contributions to industry associations on its corporate website and states in its 2020 sustainability report, without elaborating, that it advocates for changes when the associations’ positions on climate diverge from the company’s own. Exelon is a member of the Edison Electric Institute, which has mixed positions on climate policy, as well as the American Gas Association and US Chamber of Commerce, which both engage highly negatively on climate.