FORM 8-K





                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION




                              Washington, DC 20549

                                 CURRENT REPORT



                Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities
                              Exchange Act of 1934




                        Date of Report: February 27, 1997



                               PECO ENERGY COMPANY
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)



                         PENNSYLVANIA 1-1401 23-0970240
                       (State or other (SEC (IRS Employer
                   jurisdiction of file number) Identification
                             incorporation) Number)




              230l Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19101
               (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)



               Registrant's telephone number, including area code:
                                 (215) 841-4000






Item 5. Other Events

On February 27, 1997, the Company issued the following press release:

"PECO ENERGY FILES PILOT PROGRAM
FOR CUSTOMER ELECTRIC CHOICE

To Involve About 90,000 Residential, Commercial
And Industrial Customers Through 1998

PECO Energy Company filed today with the Pennsylvania  Public Utility Commission
(PUC)  a  comprehensive   pilot  program  to  enable  some  90,000  residential,
commercial and industrial customers to choose their electric suppliers beginning
as early as October, 1997.

It is believed it will be the largest electric pilot program in the country.

If it is approved by the PUC,  the pilot  would begin in April,  1997,  with the
random selection by a neutral third party of some 90,000 customers from the PECO
Energy service territory.

Under the pilot,  the 90,000 PECO Energy  customers will have the opportunity to
buy their  electricity from other power companies,  brokers or marketers through
1998. Cumulatively, about 480 megawatts of power will be open to competition.

The power from other  suppliers  would continue to be delivered over PECO Energy
transmission  and  distribution  lines, and PECO Energy would continue to supply
customer services such as meter reading, billing and outage restoration.

The cross section of eligible PECO Energy  customers will include 5 percent from
the City of Philadelphia  and 5 percent from suburban  counties across all major
rate classes.  Also,  residential customers in one randomly selected township or
borough in the suburbs and one randomly  selected  political  subdivision in the
City will be eligible. In addition,  randomly selected commercial and industrial
customers located in state-created Enterprise Zones also will be eligible.

Power would be delivered to the pilot  customers as early as October,  1997, and
no later than January, 1998. The pilot would conclude in December, 1998.

"This  pilot  represents   another  major  step  in  the  Company's  entry  into
competition  and customer  choice,"  said Corbin A.  McNeill,  Jr.,  PECO Energy
president and chief executive officer.  "It will offer lower energy costs to our
customers and serve as a valuable learning experience for the Company.

"We will learn  lessons  needed for an orderly  transition  to  electric  retail
competition  as we  test  various  assumptions  about  retail  access,  discover
benefits and pitfalls, and find how future retail competition can best be shaped
for all PECO Energy customers," McNeill said.

The filing is in compliance  with  Pennsylvania's  recent  electric  competition
legislation, which provided for customer choice pilot programs for approximately
5 percent of the peak load of the state's electric utilities, beginning in 1997.
The  pilots  will be the first  step in the  Commonwealth's  transition  to full
electric  competition,  under which  one-third of a utility's  customers will be
able to choose their electric  suppliers by 1999,  another third by 2000 and the
final third by 2001.

All  pilot  participants  would be  among  the  one-third  of  electric  utility
customers to be offered choice by January 1, 1999.

McNeill said PECO Energy will undertake  extensive  customer education about the
pilot program in the coming months. Here, subject to approval by the PUC, is how
the pilot would work:

To give all customers an equal opportunity to be selected, a neutral third party
will randomly select eligible  customers from across all rate classes,  and will
randomly select a political  subdivision in the City and one township or borough
in the suburbs from a pool of eligible localities.  All residential customers in
the two selected localities will be eligible for the pilot.

The third party will also randomly select  commercial and industrial  customers,
using a total of 75 mw of  electricity,  from  Enterprise  Zones in the City and
suburbs.

The  selection  will  take  place  between  April 1 and May 1, or after  the PUC
approves PECO Energy's filing. Those selected could be notified by the beginning
of May. Once selected,  an eligible customer can make a decision to choose a new
supplier at any time during the pilot up until September, 1998.

PECO Energy will send information  about the pilot and how to participate to all
customers selected,  as well as a form authorizing the release of the customer's
name, address and telephone number to electric suppliers.  If the release is not
authorized,  pilot customers will be sent a list of  participating  suppliers so
the customers can contact the suppliers if they so choose.

All electric suppliers participating in pilot programs in Pennsylvania will have
to be approved by the Commonwealth and licensed by the PUC.

If pilot  customers  decide they do not want to select  another  supplier,  PECO
Energy will continue to supply their  electricity.  The selected  customers will
retain the option of choosing another supplier at a later date during the pilot.

To participate, customers will have to sign a PECO Energy participating customer
consent form. Customers selecting a new supplier will also enter into a contract
with  that  supplier  for a  minimum  of 30 days.  During  the  pilot,  eligible
customers can switch to another outside  supplier,  or return to PECO Energy. If
they return to PECO Energy, they cannot choose another supplier during the pilot
period.

A  customer  could only  switch  suppliers  at the end of a  contract  or if the
supplier failed to live up to the contract.  In a case where a supplier fails to
deliver the agreed-upon power, PECO Energy would step in to assure uninterrupted
electric supply.

Pilot  customers could be billed  separately by the outside  supplier for energy
consumed, or the energy supplier could request PECO Energy to do the billing. In
either case, PECO Energy will bill the customer for its delivery services.

PECO Energy will conduct  periodic market  research  surveys and interviews with
eligible and non-eligible  customers to evaluate the pilot, and the Company will
use the  information  to file  quarterly  reports  with  the PUC to  update  the
Commission.

The Company also will make copies of the Electric Pilot filing available through
main branches of public libraries, on the Internet  (www.libertynet.org/peco) or
by request in writing to PECO Energy Company, Robin Krongold,  Legal Department,
S23-1, 2301 Market St., Philadelphia, PA, 19101."

                                     * * * *

As previously  reported in a Current Report on Form 8-K dated February 21, 1997,
on February  14, 1997,  the  National  Labor  Relations  Board  (NLRB)  issued a
decision  stating  that a union  representation  election  does not  require all
hourly  employees  within  PECO  Energy to vote as one unit and  ordering a PECO
Nuclear  election to be held  within 30 days.  On February  24,  1997,  the NLRB
established March 24, 1997 as the date for the PECO Nuclear election.

                                     * * * *

 The Company has made an offer to acquire a thirty percent ownership interest in
River Bend  Nuclear  Station,  a 936 megawatt  unit which is majority  owned and
operated by  subsidiaries  of Entergy Corp. The Company would be entitled to the
electric output from the unit in proportion to its ownership  interest and would
be responsible for sharing in ongoing costs  proportionate to its interest.  The
offer is  conditioned  on, among other  things,  the receipt by the Company of a
fund  to  fully   cover  the   Company's   estimated   share  of  the  costs  of
decommissioning the unit.

                                     * * * *





                                   SIGNATURES




Pursuant  to the  requirements  of the  Securities  Exchange  Act of  1934,  the
registrant  has duly  caused  this  report  to be  signed  on its  behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.






                                                             PECO ENERGY COMPANY


                                                              \s\ J. B. Mitchell
                                                        Vice President - Finance
                                                                   and Treasurer






February 27, 1997