Utility holding company Exelon Corp. plans to spend $31.3 billion between now and the end of 2026 on capital projects, an increase of $2.1 billion from its rolling four-year target of a year ago.
Two-thirds of the more than $31 billion in planned investments at Exelon’s six utilities are slated to go to distribution projects while $6.7 billion will build the company’s transmission portfolio and the remainder will go toward gas delivery projects. Distribution’s share of the total planned spending is up slightly from a year ago.
Some of the highlights from the investment plans, which newly-named President and CEO Calvin Butler and CFO Jeanne Jones say will help Exelon consistently grow its rate base by 8% annually, are:
• For 2023, the expected total has climbed $75 million from year-ago projections thanks to distribution investments growing $175 million while transmission projects will get a little less money after outpacing 2022’s forecasts.
• The biggest planned increase from past projections is set for 2025, when the previously outlined $7.5 billion in spending is now expected to be $8.2 billion. Distribution is again the main driver and slated to draw $5.4 billion in capital versus the $4.85 billion Exelon executives estimated early last year.
• ComEd, which accounts for 37% of Exelon’s rate base, will get the lion’s share of those newly contemplated distribution dollars: Its 2025 capex forecast now stands at a little more than $2.9 billion, an increase of $275 million from a year ago fully attributable to distribution, with transmission plans being slightly scaled back. Capex for 2026 is being forecast at another $3.1 billion.
• Baltimore Gas & Electric also has seen its capex budget grow. Its new 2024 outlook is $100 million larger, with all three business units getting more capital, while projected 2025 spending has been bumped to $1.675 billion from last year’s forecast of $1.475 billion, with transmission work accounting for the bulk of that growth.
“With four multi-year plan rate filings planned for this year, I’d remind you that our capital forecast only reflects identified projects we expect to recover through our constructive recovery mechanisms,” Jones said on a conference call discussing Exelon’s fourth-quarter results. “The plan reflects a disciplined prioritization of potential investments.”
Chicago-based Exelon posted a Q4 net profit of $432 million on operating revenues of nearly $4.7 billion. Those numbers were up from $391 million and $4.4 billion, respectively, during the last three months of 2021, and were helped by lower spending on purchased power and fuel as well as lower tax payments. For the full year, Exelon earned nearly $2.2 billion on revenues of $19.1 billion versus $1.8 billion and $17.9 billion, respectively, in 2021.
Among the holding company’s utilities, ComEd in Illinois and PECO in Pennsylvania contributed the bulk of adjusted operating earnings growth during 2022 while Pepco in the Washington, D.C. market and BGE held steady year over year.
Shares of Exelon (Ticker: EXC) rose about 2% to roughly $42 Feb. 14. Over the past six months, they have lost about 10% of their value, trimming the company’s market capitalization to about $42 billion.
