Exelon Corporation
Explore Exelon
Core profile pages, annual revenue records, and related research hubs for this company.
Exelon Corporation
Explore Exelon
Core profile pages, annual revenue records, and related research hubs for this company.
Company History
Founded 2000 in Chicago, Illinois
1882: Chicago Edison Company begins supplying electricity to downtown Chicago. 1881: Philadelphia Electric Company starts operations in Pennsylvania. These two utilities operated independently for over a century, building distribution infrastructure across their respective service territories through the industrialization of America, two world wars, and the postwar suburban expansion.
The 2000 merger of PECO Energy and Unicom (parent of Commonwealth Edison) created Exelon Corporation — a combination that brought together the Philadelphia and Chicago utility legacies under a single holding company. The merged entity immediately ranked among the largest utilities in the country by customer count and rate base.
The 2012 spin-off of Constellation Energy was an early signal of the pure-play regulated utility direction, though Constellation at that time retained significant unregulated nuclear generation. The 2016 acquisition of Pepco Holdings — a deal initially blocked by D.C. Regulators before eventually receiving approval — added the Mid-Atlantic service territory and extended the geographic corridor that defines Exelon's footprint.
The complete separation of Constellation in 2022 completed the transformation that the 2012 spin-off had started. The Exelon that remains is a distribution-focused regulated utility with no exposure to commodity power markets — a structure that institutional investors in regulated utilities explicitly prefer.
Exelon Corporation was formed in 2000 through the merger of PECO Energy Company and Commonwealth Edison, establishing a corporate structure that would evolve into the largest pure-play regulated utility in the United States. The merged entity approached the problem of energy distribution with a deep understanding of industrial engineering and commercial strategy, recognizing that the consolidation of the utility sector would create massive opportunities for operational efficiency and regulatory leverage. Its early success was driven by its ability to navigate the complex political and regulatory landscape of the United States, leveraging the technical expertise of its legacy utility workforces to secure access to the vast distribution networks of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. The company instilled a culture of long-term strategic planning, technical excellence, and operational discipline, creating a corporate DNA that remains visible in its willingness to invest in massive, long-lead-time grid modernization projects and its deep integration across the utility value chain. Its visionary leadership and unwavering focus on regulatory alignment laid the foundation for two decades of growth and adaptation, transforming a diversified energy conglomerate into a global leader in regulated electricity and natural gas distribution.
The Chicago Edison Company is founded, later evolving into Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) under the leadership of Samuel Insull, establishing the foundation for modern electric utility distribution in the Midwest.
The Philadelphia Electric Company is established to provide reliable power to the rapidly growing industrial hub of Philadelphia, building a dense network of wires and substations that would become the backbone of the region's economy.
PECO Energy Company and Commonwealth Edison execute a landmark, $34 billion merger of equals to form Exelon Corporation, creating a massive, diversified energy conglomerate with significant regulated and competitive assets.
Exelon spins off its competitive power generation business into a separate, publicly traded company named Constellation Energy, allowing Exelon to focus more heavily on its regulated utility operations, though the two would later re-merge briefly before a final split.
Following a lengthy regulatory battle, Exelon successfully completes the $6.8 billion acquisition of Pepco Holdings, instantly expanding its regulated footprint into Washington D.C., Maryland, and Delaware, and solidifying its position as the largest regulated utility in the United States by customer count.
The state of Illinois passes the Future Energy Jobs Act, providing a stable, multi-year regulatory framework for ComEd to recover its investments in grid modernization and energy efficiency, marking a turning point in the company’s relationship with Illinois regulators.
Exelon completes the strategic, tax-free spin-off of its competitive power generation business, Constellation Energy, transforming Exelon into a pure-play regulated electric and gas utility and eliminating all merchant power market exposure.
Calvin Butler Jr. assumes the role of President and Chief Executive Officer, initiating a comprehensive strategic focus on grid resilience, extreme weather hardening, and the execution of the company's massive, multi-billion-dollar capital expenditure program.
Exelon begins the massive operational and financial restructuring required to comply with the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act in Illinois, positioning ComEd as the central architect of the state's aggressive decarbonization and grid modernization mandates.
Exelon reported $24.258 billion in FY2025 revenue and $2.768 billion in net income available to common shareholders while continuing regulated grid and utility investment.
The company acquired Pepco Holdings for $6.8 billion to instantly expand its regulated footprint into Washington D.C., Maryland, and Delaware, solidifying its position as the largest regulated utility in the United States by customer count and diversifying its geographic revenue base.
PECO Energy Company and Commonwealth Edison executed a landmark, $34 billion merger of equals to form Exelon Corporation, driven by the realization that the impending deregulation of the power markets required massive scale, operational efficiency, and financial firepower to survive.
Exelon traces its origins to 2000, with PECO and Commonwealth Edison predecessors tied to the founding story.
The Constellation spin-off made Exelon a cleaner regulated utility company rather than a generation-heavy power group.
Exelon expanded by building electric distribution, gas distribution, transmission, regulated utility service, grid investment, and customer programs, serving households, businesses, municipalities, industrial users, regulators, and utility customers, and using grid reliability, regulated rate-base growth, urban utility operations, clean-energy connections, and customer programs.
This Exelon history page covers founding, growth milestones, leadership changes, and modern strategic context.