11/28/22 -- 1:32 AM PEPCO Restored Power to All Customers Impacted by Plane Crash

We are pleased to have assisted @MCFRS and other local emergency personnel on the effort to safely rescue the individuals who were stranded in the airplane. We have restored electric service for all customers who were impacted by tonight’s incident.

— Pepco (@PepcoConnect) November 28, 2022

PEPCO Files for yet Another Rate Increase: PSC Hearing Tuesday Sept 6 6:30 PM

On April 19, 2016 Pepco filed an application with the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) to increase rates for its electric distribution service by $126,784,000.  If approved by the PSC these proposed rate increases would go into effect retroactive to May 19, 2016.  The PSC has suspended these increases for 150 days from the May 19, 2016 date in order to proceed with the regulatory process of determining whether the proposed rates are just and reasonable.  In addition to the $126.7 million dollar rate increase request, Pepco is also seeking a rate of return on equity of 10.60% and Pepco proposed to continue its Grid Resiliency Charge (GRC) that was initially approved in Case No. 9311.  Pepco proposes to accelerate improvement to priority feeders and install single phase reclosing fuse technology.  Pepco is requesting $15.8 million a year for two years for a total of $31.6 million.

This rate increase request comes on the heels of a multibillion dollar merger agreement between Pepco/PHI and Exelon Corporation.  This merger was highly contested by many of the parties who participated in both the Maryland and DC venues.  Recently, the DC Office of the People’s Counsel (OPC) filed its petition in opposition to the $7.1 billion merger with the D.C. Court of Appeals and stated that DC OPC intends to ensure the “integrity of the legal process”.  In Maryland, the Office of the Attorney General, Brian Frosh also filed an appeal of the Maryland PSC’s merger decision.

In its dissenting opinion of the merger, two Maryland PSC Commissioners Harold Williams and Anne E. Hoskins found that throughout the merger proceedings, Pepco and Exelon provided insufficient information to conclude that the merger was consistent with the public interest, under Maryland law the merger would need to actually benefit consumers for the merger to be approved.  The dissenting Commissioners stated that Exelon “missed a critical opportunity to mitigate harm from this transaction by failing to propose an integrated “utility of the future” strategy to support its reliability commitments.  The dissent cited the need for a more reliable system that employs a further efficiencies and a clean electricity service.    In addition the dissent noted that the electricity grid of the future needs to achieve “the broad goals of promoting affordable, reliable, clean electricity”. 

In failing to meet Maryland’s legal standard for merger approval, the two dissenting Commissioners cited the “Do No Harm” clause, “Rising Rates and Affordability” and “Corporate Governance and Local Control”.  In its dissent, the Commissioners addressed the issue of rising electric utility bills rates and the sustainability and affordability of these costs.  The Commissioners stated that the “central problem with Exelon’s misguided reliability commitment is that it has the practical effect of preauthorizing massive proposed reliability budgets without appropriate review.  Indeed, Exelon has asserted that Pepco … can meet the SAIDI and SAIFI targets (reliability standards created by  rule RM 43) promised in the settlement – but only if it spends all of PHI’s (Pepco’s holding company) planned  five-year capital and O & M reliability-related budgets plus an additional $34 million in reliability expenditures – a total of almost $1 billion.  This significant reliability spending will lead to substantial rate increases….In 2019, a typical Pepco residential customer will pay an estimated extra $180.00 per year and will have paid an additional $540 from 2015 through 2019.” 

In Pepco’s Reliability Case No. 9240 final order issued by the PSC on December 21, 2011 (just months before the derecho knocked out power to our community for nearly a week), the PSC determined that Pepco had been imprudent in its management of its electric service delivery system and fined Pepco $1 million.  The PSC found that Pepco’s reliability performance remained stagnated in fourth quartile or bottom half of performance.  The Commission further penalized Pepco by disallowing the company to recover costs in their next rate case at the Commission because Pepco’s poor conduct had resulted in unreliable service for its customers.

Nearly five years have passed since the PSC issued a $1 million fine and additional penalties to Pepco.  The company is now owned by Exelon and reliability remains stagnated in the bottom half of performance when measured by reliability indices.  Hundreds of millions of dollars have been collected from ratepayers over the past 5 years.  Pepco’s shareholders and executives received a billion dollar plus payout as a result of the merger.  Now Pepco/Exelon is trying to ask the PSC to raise rates and collect millions more.  More than 12,000 of Pepco’s Maryland customers were without power just a few weeks ago from a thunderstorm and the promised reliability of five years ago continues to elude Pepco’s ratepayers. 

Powerupmontco accepts no money.  We are extremely fortunate to receive pro bono services from several experts in the area of utility law including Stan Balis. Esq., Bob Loube, Ph.D, and our new attorney Mercia Arnold, Esq.  Thank you all.

 

On Tuesday, September 6, 2016 at 6:30 p.m., the Maryland Public Service Commission will hold public hearings on Pepco’s latest rate increase request.  The hearings will be held at the

Montgomery County Executive Office Building

First Floor Auditorium

101 Monroe Street

 Rockville, Maryland 20850 

Please plan to attend this hearing and testify before the Commission.  Let the Maryland Public Service Commission know that these rate increases should not be approved until Pepco can demonstrate that it can deliver top quartile reliability for its customers.

If you cannot attend the hearing, written comments may also be filed by Friday, October 6, 2016.  The comments should be addressed to David J. Collins, Executive Secretary, Maryland Public Service Commission, William Donald Schaefer Tower, 6 St. Paul Street, 16th Floor, Baltimore, Maryland 21202 and should reference “CASE NO. 9418”.

 

For more information contact: Powerupmontco@gmail.com

Join our followers on Twitter @powerupmontco and Facebook Powerup Montco

Pepco, PHI, BGE and Exelon Campaign Contributions

From Abbe Milstein, Founder of Powerupmontco.  Election Day is Tuesday, June 24th.

Dear Powerupmontco Supporters;

Some of the questions I received from Powerupmontco supporters asked about utility contributions to state races.  Below is a breakdown of the money donated by Pepco, PHI, BGE and Exelon to General Assembly and Montgomery County candidates and political committees at the state senator, state representative and county level. 

continues at

http://www.scribd.com/doc/230755185/Power-Up-Moco

PowerupMontCo and Public Power for Mont Co Presser changed to Wednesday 10:30 am

Change of date for PowerupMontCo and Public Power for Montgomery County Press Event:

The location, Montgomery County Council Office Building, 100 Maryland Ave. Rockville 20850 will stay the same.  The new time will be 10:30 AM and the new date will be Wednesday, December 11, 2013.  Both Mr. Anthony “Tony” Green and his wife Nancy Green will be attending the event.

Powerupmontco and Public Power for Montgomery County Presser Wed, Dec 11, 10:30 am

Update: The time and date for this Press Event has been changed to Wednesday, December 11th, at 10:30 am.

Powerupmontco and Public Power for Montgomery County will be holding a Press conference Tuesday, Dec. 10th, 12:45 p.m outside the County Council Office Building, 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville.

On May 5, 2006, fourteen-year-old Deanna Camille Green was at a church softball game in Druid Hill Park when she touched a fence connected to a buried power line and was electrocuted by 277 volts of energy.  It was determined that BG & E's neglected underground infrastructure had deteriorated to the point where fraying underground wires were transmitting hundreds of volts of electricity through the ground and were being conducted to surface structures.   Deanna's parents spent years petitioning for legislation to prevent this kind of tragedy from ever occurring again.

On May 22, 2012, the Maryland General Assembly passed and Governor O'Malley signed The Deanna Camille Green Act (The Act)  of 2012.  In response to that Act, the Maryland Public Service Commission created within COMAR,  20.50.11 the Deanna Camille Green Rule -- Contact Voltage Survey Requirement and Reporting.  This rule requires Pepco and other utilities, among other rules, to file a location map for CVRZs (Contact Voltage Risk Zones) within its service territory.  Pepco's map includes parts of downtown Bethesda, Rockville and Silver Spring.  A report should be issued shortly by the Public Service Commission identifying the voltage of certain objects (street lights and traffic signals) that could potentially be carrying voltage to street level.

There are several serious deficits with both the legislation and the COMAR regulations.  Powerupmontco and Public Power for Montgomery County will be holding a press conference on Tuesday, December 10, 2013 at 12:45 p.m. outside the County Council Building.  They will address problems within The Act and COMAR, as well as issues of great concern regarding compliance and transparency by the Public Service Commission and Pepco.