The Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) will come to Rockville Sept. 6 to hear the public’s views on Pepco’s request for a rate increase that would bring in an additional $127 million for the electric utility.
The PSC announced the public hearing last week. It will start at 6:30 p.m. in the first-floor auditorium of the Executive Office Building at 101 Monroe St.
Pepco said it needs the rate increase, which would mean a hike of about $15.80 per month to the average residential customer’s electric bill, to recover part of the $327 million spent on power grid improvements it has made over the past two years. The utility also has said the rate increase request isn’t related to its sale to Exelon, a Chicago-based utility company that bought Pepco Holding Inc. for $6.8 billion in March.
While it’s common for utility companies to request rate increases to recoup major operating costs, Pepco’s latest request has already run into opposition from at least one County Council member.
Roger Berliner, who also opposed Pepco’s merger with Exelon, started a petition shortly after the request was filed in April with the PSC, arguing the increase “rewards Pepco for making costly investments instead of pursuing least-cost, distributed, and innovative solutions.”
In May, Pepco Region Vice President Jerry Pasternak told a group of area residents and business owners the $327 million in system improvements over the past two years is “much more” than the company’s adjusted earnings in that timeframe. He also pointed to data showing Pepco has improved its performance, with 43 percent fewer power outages in 2015 than occurred in 2011 and a 50 percent reduction in the duration of power outages. Pepco also says its residential customer satisfaction ratings have increased by double digits.
When announcing the rate increase request, Pepco pointed out that even if its requested rates are approved, customers’ monthly bills are down 9 percent from five years ago because of dropping energy prices.
The PSC, the five-member group of state regulators charged with deciding whether to grant the rate increase, will likely make a ruling in late November or early December.
A 2013 Pepco rate increase request was the utility’s third in three years and Montgomery County officially opposed it before the PSC. In 2014, the PSC approved the increase, but at a much lower amount than Pepco requested.
The approved rate increase amounted to less than 1 percent per year on the average customer’s bill and provided an additional $8.8 million in revenue for Pepco. The utility had asked the PSC for a rate increase that would’ve brought in $37.4 million.
Those who can’t make it to the Sept. 6 public hearing in Rockville can attend a Sept. 8 public hearing at Prince George’s County Community College in Largo or send written comments to Executive Secretary David J. Collins, Maryland Public Service Commission, William Donald Schaefer Tower, 6 Paul St., 16th floor, Baltimore, Maryland 21202.
Written public comments will be accepted up to Oct. 6 and should reference “Case No. 9418.”
