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Eagles Nesting at Braidwood Lake; Exelon Provides Photos of Birds

Eagles Nesting at Braidwood Lake; Exelon Provides Photos of Birds

Published 03-30-06

Submitted by Exelon Nuclear

BRACEVILLE, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 30, 2006--A pair of bald eagles that made a home on Braidwood Lake are now nesting, and officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are watching the nest from a safe distance to monitor hatching of the eggs.

Exelon Corp., which owns Braidwood Lake, today announced it is providing photos of the nesting eagles for the public to enjoy.

To protect the eagles and the nesting process, officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are requesting that the public stay away from the nest and not take photos. As a result, Exelon hired a professional photographer, who took the photos last week from a safe distance using a high-resolution camera. The photos are enclosed and are also available on our website www.braidwoodtritium.info.

In February, Exelon paid for a buoy system at a cost of $20,600 to cordon off the eagles' home from boaters and anglers, as a way to protect the birds and ensure the rest of the 2,536-acre lake could open to the public on March 1. While the primary purpose of Braidwood Lake is cooling the plant, Exelon is pleased to sponsor the site as a wildlife reserve and public recreation facility.

"The fact that the eagles are now nesting is a testament to the good habitat we help to provide at Braidwood Lake," said Keith Polson, Braidwood site vice president. "We're all eagerly awaiting the hatching of the eggs and are happy to share these photos with the public."

Because of the use of DDT and other pesticides, the numbers of bald eagles dropped to fewer than 500 nesting pairs in the 1960s. Today, there are more than 20,000 birds and 5,000 nesting pairs, and the numbers of eagles in Illinois are rising.

In addition to the efforts at Braidwood Lake, Exelon supports The Nature Conservancy, Openlands Project, the Chicago Park District and other environmental groups. For more information and to view the photos, visit our community website, www.braidwoodtritium.info.

Exelon Corporation is one of the nation's largest electric utilities with approximately 5.2 million customers and more than $15 billion in annual revenues. The company has one of the industry's largest portfolios of electricity generation capacity, with a nationwide reach and strong positions in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic.

Exelon distributes electricity to approximately 5.2 million customers in northern Illinois and Pennsylvania and natural gas to more than 470,000 customers in southeastern Pennsylvania. Exelon is headquartered in Chicago and trades on the NYSE under the ticker EXC.

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Copyright Business Wire 2006

Exelon Nuclear

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