A multi-year effort by Mercy Housing Lakefront to provide energy-efficient housing for families across northern Illinois resulted in the organization receiving a Premier Partner Award from Multi-Family Energy Savings (MFES). MFES is a collaboration between ComEd, Nicor Gas, North Shore Gas and Peoples Gas that helps families living in multi-family communities, along with property owners, access energy efficiency upgrades that can lower energy use and costs.
Mercy Housing is a national nonprofit organization that develops, preserves, and manages affordable, program-enriched housing for income-eligible families, seniors, and people with disabilities. From 2022 to 2025, Mercy Housing worked with northern Illinois’ energy companies to install energy-efficient appliances and equipment in over 2,000 affordable-housing units that help thousands of residents of Mercy Housing’s properties save money and energy. These improvements earned Mercy Housing more than $1.5 million in incentives to help offset installation costs. These savings, in turn, help lower costs for residents.
Mercy Housing’s efficiency efforts also have environmental benefits, with total energy savings of more than 417,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) and over 48,000 therms. Together, these energy savings help prevent nearly 1.4 million pounds of carbon emissions from going into the air, which is the environmental equivalent of planting nearly 650 acres of trees or removing 150 cars from the road each year.
The award presentation took place during an event with ComEd, Nicor Gas, North Shore Gas and Peoples Gas. It is the second Premier Partner Award presented by MFES. The inaugural award was presented to the Housing Authority of the County of DeKalb in 2024 .
In noting that the reduction in consumed energy at the properties saved nearly $650,000, Mark Angelini, Regional President of Mercy Housing, added, “The cost savings at our properties were channeled to fund programs serving the residents living there. We are a mission-driven organization focused on providing wrap-around services to our residents. This is a wonderful example of how ‘more margin’ enabled us to provide ‘more mission.’ ”
From 2023 to 2025, the ComEd Energy Efficiency Program contributed approximately $886,000 to the incentive total. This helped Mercy Housing offset the cost of installing energy-efficient lighting, room air conditioners (ACs), refrigerators, attic insulation and air sealing and advanced power strips designed to help residents manage energy use and save money. Since its inception in 2008, the ComEd program has helped hundreds of thousands of families and businesses save a total of $13.6 billion on their energy bills, and nearly 114 million megawatt-hours of electricity.
“ComEd is proud to partner with Mercy Housing to support its mission in creating stable, healthy and affordable communities for those who need it most,” said Andy Plenge, vice president of S trategy and Energy Policy at ComEd. “ENERGY STAR certified room ACs and refrigerators use less electricity than other models, which results in more energy savings and bill savings for customers, while new LED lighting also saves money and improves safety.”
The Nicor Gas Energy Efficiency Program contributed nearly $126,000 in incentives for the installation of attic insulation and air sealing, as well as energy-efficient bathroom and kitchen water equipment. Nicor Gas also contributed to unit upgrades that enable the installation of additional energy efficiency improvements. Since its inception in 2011, the Nicor Gas program helped 1.47 million natural gas customers save over 274 million therms and provided more than $300 million in rebates and energy-saving incentives.
“We’re honored to recognize Mercy Housing for its multi-year commitment to expanding energy-efficient housing for families across Northern Illinois,” said Meena Beyers, Vice President of Business and Community Development, Nicor Gas. “Through this collaboration, we’ve supported meaningful upgrades — from attic insulation and air sealing to high-efficiency bathroom and kitchen water equipment — that help families lower their energy bills and enjoy more comfortable homes year-round. By contributing to additional in-unit improvements, we’re helping create spaces that feel warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer and more affordable for the families who live there.”
The Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas energy efficiency programs collectively contributed nearly $523,000 in incentives, which also supported the installation of energy-efficient plumbing equipment as well as air sealing buildings, and the installation of door sweeps, weatherstripping and sealing tape. Since its inception in 2011, the Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas Energy Efficiency Programs have helped residential, business and public sector natural gas customers save $168 million therms and provided more than $196 million in rebates and energy-saving incentives.
“The Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas Energy Efficiency programs are excited to celebrate Mercy Housing's success in building more efficient and comfortable environments for the benefit of their residents,” said Christina Frank, Director for Energy Efficiency and C&I Customer Strategy for Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas . “These efforts throughout the years are a testament to Mercy Housing's commitment to sustainability. We look forward to continuing a partnership that promotes sustainability and saves money for our customers and community.”
These projects are the latest examples of ComEd, Nicor Gas, North Shore Gas and Peoples Gas collaborating to support the state’s shared clean energy goals, including growing access to programs that help families and businesses manage their energy use while supporting a lower carbon future. The utilities will continue to work together on joint energy efficiency projects for Mercy Housing. For more information about Energy Efficiency offerings, visit PartnersForEnergyEfficiency.com .
About Mercy Housing
Mercy Housing Lakefront (MHL), the Great Lakes region’s largest nonprofit provider of service-enriched housing, is committed to creating affordable homes and inclusive communities by developing, financing, and operating affordable, program-enriched housing for veterans, families, seniors, and people with special needs. The portfolio includes 41 properties across Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, serving more than 6,000 people every year. MHL is a regional branch of Mercy Housing, Inc. (MHI), a national nonprofit headquartered in Denver. Founded by the Catholic sisters in 1981, strong leadership and a clear vision has taken Mercy Housing from a small Nebraska nonprofit to more than $5 billion in real estate development, with a presence in 45 states and Puerto Rico. Visit mercyhousing.org/lakefront to find out more.
About ComEd
ComEd is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ: EXC), a Fortune 200 energy company with approximately 10 million electricity and natural gas customers—the largest number of customers in the U.S. ComEd powers the lives of more than 4 million customers across northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state’s population. For more information, visit ComEd.com and connect with the company on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , X , and YouTube .
About Nicor Gas
Nicor Gas is one of four natural gas distribution companies of Southern Company Gas, a wholly owned subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), and serves 2.3 million customers in more than 650 communities across Northern Illinois. Ranked as a Most Trusted Utility Brand by Escalent, Nicor Gas is fueling customer choice, innovation, economic growth and a sustainable energy future. Nicor Gas is working to keep bills as low as possible as we continue providing access to clean, safe and reliable natural gas. For more information, visit NicorGas.com .
About North Shore Gas
North Shore Gas, a subsidiary of WEC Energy Group (NYSE: WEC), is a regulated natural gas delivery company that serves more than 166,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in 54 communities within the northern suburbs of Chicago. Find more information about natural gas safety, energy efficiency and other energy-related topics at northshoregasdelivery.com . Follow us on Twitter and Facebook @northshoregas and Instagram @north_shore_gas
About Peoples Gas
Peoples Gas, a subsidiary of WEC Energy Group (NYSE: WEC), is a regulated natural gas delivery company that serves more than 898,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in the city of Chicago. Find more information about natural gas safety, energy efficiency and other energy-related topics at peoplesgasdelivery.com . Follow us on X, Facebook and Instagram @peoplegaschi.
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