ANC 3F urges DC regulators to extract more concessions from Pepco-Exelon merger

The five commissioners present at ANC 3F’s February 17th meeting unanimously passed a resolution opposing the Pepco-Exelon merger as is filed.

Exelon and Pepco need approval from the DC Public Service Commission and its counterparts in other states to proceed with the merger, and have been making concessions and commitments to win that approval. The companies’ latest offer to the DC PSC includes a guarantee of a reduction in frequency and duration of power outages, else it face penalties of up to $5.6 million per year.

The resolution introduced by ANC 3F05 commissioner Andrea Molod calls for any settlement negotiations conducted by the DC Public Service Commission, the Council and the DC government to require at least the following provisions:

A binding Exelon commitment to implement programs that will reduce the average electricity bills of low-income customers by 50 percent or more through a combination of energy efficiency and locally-based solar generation.

A binding Exelon commitment to work cooperatively with electricity customers in the District of Columbia to implement the mayor’s sustainability plan, including a goal of reaching at least 50 percent renewable energy by 2032 and documented reforms to Pepco’s grid planning processes to ensure future investments and upgrades help the District reach this goal.

A binding Exelon commitment as part of this merger to develop and implement, in conjunction with the PSC and the Council, the structure for a utility of the future, including a new regulatory framework that integrates clean, locally produced energy, energy efficiency, storage, and state-of-the-art grid management techniques to create local jobs and to produce reliable, clean, affordable energy.

The ANC heard from representatives from both sides of the issue over the course of the past few months. Mark Battle, vice president of Pepco’s DC operations made a presentation at the October 2014 meeting and again at the February meeting, and Rob Robinson of Grid 2.0 spoke at the January meeting (See: “The opposition’s view of the Exelon/Pepco merger and how you can weigh in“).

A video of the meeting can be found at ANC 3F’s Livestream.com page.

Forest Hills Connection is produced by volunteers, and supported by you. We appreciate your support – financial and otherwise. Here’s how to donate.