Illinois’ largest electric utility, Commonwealth Edison, has selected Silver Spring Networks for its smart grid project under the recently enacted Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act (EIMA), a key initiative for the state of Illinois.

Under the initiative, ComEd plans to make a total $2.6 billion infrastructure investment over a span of 10 years. The company plans to spend $1.3 billion to strengthen the electric system and another $1.3 billion to add new smart grid technology.

Silver Spring Networks, a smart grid networking platform technology and solutions provider, claims to have connected over 10 million homes and businesses throughout the world with the goal of achieving greater energy efficiency. Under the agreement, Silver Spring would deploy its Smart Energy Platform to connect nearly 4 million homes and businesses and Distribution Automation devices in Illinois.

The installation of advanced meters in homes and businesses is slated to begin later this year, subject to approval of ComEd's Advanced Metering Infrastructure Deployment Plan by the Illinois Commerce Commission, and will continue through 2021. In the first five years of the program, ComEd will focus on reinforcing the electric system infrastructure, a press release revealed. This is expected to improve reliability and reduce the frequency and duration of power outages.

This energy infrastructure modernization effort is likely to create more than 2,000 full time equivalent jobs in the fields of construction, engineering, IT, dispatching, equipment distribution and energy efficiency. In addition of opening a new office in Chicago,

Silver Spring Networks will establish a network operations center. This will further boost up the state’s job market by adding new jobs in sales, marketing, network operations, project management and field engineering, the company noted in a statement.

Previously, Silver Spring and ComEd partnered on an Advanced Metering Infrastructure pilot program which demonstrated significant operational benefits for full-scale deployment. The pilot program showed that in addition of providing improved outage management, the smart metering solutions would also enable the customers to take informed decision regarding their energy consumption, leading to additional customer savings.

“We are honored to expand upon our successful partnership with ComEd in support of their vision and commitment to better serve their customers and prepare for the unique challenges of the 21st century. We are delighted to bring new green jobs to the City of Chicago as well as the benefits of a modern grid -- increased reliability, consumer choice and energy efficiency -- to the state of Illinois,” chairman, president and CEO of Silver Spring Networks Scott Lang noted in a statement.

Earlier, ComEd announced that as a part of its energy infrastructure modernization initiative, upgrades will be made to the utility's mainline underground system, which includes 8,300 miles of cable. ComEd considers the mainline cable program to be among the most complex initiatives as it involves several phases of work, including manhole assessment and cable testing, refurbishment and replacement. In 2012, ComEd plans to assess more than 4,000 of the 28,326 manholes in its system, replacing or conducting corrective maintenance of cable systems in the manholes and addressing other structural issues as required.