Montgomery County Council member Roger Berliner is leading a newly formed coalition that’s asking state regulators to tie utility performance to profits if a proposed merger between Pepco and utility giant Exelon is approved.
The coalition is comprised of environmental groups, businesses, think tanks and elected officials in Montgomery County and Prince George’s counties.
The group filed a petition Wednesday with the Maryland Public Service Commission, asking that the commission require 50 percent of the merged entity’s profit to be tied to its ability to meet performance standards.
The petition asks the commission to require Exelon to provide excellent reliability, metrics to judge how it meets consumers’ needs, more customer control over energy consumption and goals for energy efficiency.
“If the commission approves the merger it will create a dominant energy player in our state and we think the only way you can possibly find this in the public interest is if you condition it in a number of ways,” Berliner said.
If approved, the merger would result in Chicago-based Exelon controlling Baltimore Gas and Electric and Pepco Holdings Inc., which together supply electricity to residents in the Baltimore area, the Eastern Shore and the southern portion of the state, including Montgomery County.
Exelon has offered about $6.8 billion to acquire Pepco Holdings and part of that includes $50 million in charitable contributions to communities served by Pepco. The company reported to the commission that the acquisition would create about 6,500 jobs in the region and an estimated $600 million in economic benefits for the state.
An Exelon spokesman said in an email the company is committed to reducing power outages for Pepco customers by 38 percent by 2020, if the merger is approved.
Berliner said the commitments that Exelon has made are narrow and that the company “set the bar too low.”
Coalition members include: Montgomery County Council members Roger Berliner, Phil Andrews, Cherri Branson, Marc Elrich, George Leventhal and Hans Riemer; Takoma Park Council members Seth Grimes, Fred Schultz, Terry Seamens, Jarrett Smith and Kate Stewart; Takoma Park Mayor Bruce R. Williams; Somerset Mayor Jeffrey Z. Slavin; the cities of Rockville, Greenbelt, College Park and Takoma Park; the towns of Garrett Park and Somerset; Environment Maryland; Energy Future Coalition; Maryland Municipal League; NextGen LED; Wattlots; Wired Group; and Galvin Electricity Institute.
Berliner and Gaithersburg City Council member Ryan Spiegel serve as the coalition’s attorneys.
