ComEd Cleared to Move Ahead with One of Nation's First Microgrid Cluster Projects The Illinois Commerce Commission on Feb. 28 granted approval for Commonwealth Edison Co. 's $25-million utility-scale microgrid project outside of Chicago. The pilot demonstration, which is intended to better understand the systems and to advance their design and operation, will interconnect with a microgrid at the Illinois Institute of Technology, creating one of the first clusters in the nation. The unit of Exelon Corp. will submit annual reports to the commission over the 10-year study period. Microgrids are electric system's that can operate autonomously from the traditional power grid using local energy supplies, such as batteries, solar panels or smaller generators, enabling them to remain in operation during outages.