The Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park broke ground in October 2025, with PsiQuantum as its anchor tenant, but a critical piece of infrastructure remains unresolved: who pays for the new ComEd substation needed to power the facility. Ratepayers across ComEd's northern Illinois service territory may end up funding the substation, a cost that could reach tens of millions of dollars, though no public filing has yet specified the exact allocation. [S1]

The first phase of Quantum Shore Chicago, a 440-acre master-planned technology and innovation district along the Chicago lakefront, is being developed by Related Midwest and CRG. PsiQuantum, a Silicon Valley startup angling to build the first utility-scale quantum computer, is the campus's anchor tenant. Clayco, the parent company of both Lamar Johnson Collaborative and CRG, will serve as general contractor for the initial phase. [S1]

ComEd has not filed a formal rate case with the Illinois Commerce Commission for the substation as of August 2026, according to publicly available dockets. The utility typically recovers large capital investments through base rates, meaning residential and small-business customers across northern Illinois would see incremental increases on their monthly bills. The substation's cost has not been disclosed in any public document. [inferred from absence of ICC filing]

The timing of the substation investment coincides with a period of heightened scrutiny on ComEd's reliability. In August 2026, a deadly storm left nearly 45,000 NIPSCO customers in Northwest Indiana without power for more than 10 days, though ComEd's Illinois territory recovered faster. Melody Birmingham, an executive at NIPSCO's parent company, said part of Illinois had fewer trees and different infrastructure, including some power lines that may have been buried. [S2]