Pepco’s proposed rate hikes are extreme, unjust, and a bad deal for DC.
In Pepco’s current rate case application, they are asking to raise rates by 20% over three years, resulting in unaffordable energy rates for one fifth of district households. This only worsens DC’s cost-of-living crisis while residents are squeezed in all areas.
While Pepco claims these costs are necessary for decarbonization goals, the Office of the People’s Council found that 95% of the proposed investments cannot be tied to any reductions in greenhouse gasses. In addition, analysts at Synapse Energy Economics found Pepco’s previous rate increase proposals had no evidence it would support the public interest or any net public benefits.
Further, the PSC should not have even allowed Pepco to propose this plan. After Pepco proposed their first multi-year rate plan as a pilot, the PSC said they would review it and establish regulations. They still haven’t done this review, depriving the public of due process, and in effect, allowing Pepco to regulate themselves.
This regulatory neglect in the face of rabid pursuit of profit on the backs of DC’s poorest residents is exactly why DC needs a utility that is owned by and accountable to the people of DC—we need public power now.
Join us in telling the PSC that DC residents will not stand by while they allow this profit-greedy utility to rob DC ratepayers blind by sending a letter right now!
We Power DC 