Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL)– The D.C. Public Service Commission approved the nearly $7 billion Pepco-Exelon merger Wednesday with a 2 to 1 vote and little discussion. The sole dissenting vote came from commission chair Betty Ann Kane.
The controversial deal was approved after two years of negotiations among the city and the power companies. Wednesday’s vote finalizes the deal, which had already been approved by Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Justice Department.
D.C. Councilmember Mary Cheh said the deal is not in the public interest and will increase electric rates for customers.
“I’ll tell you who the beneficiaries are. Quite plainly, it’s Exelon and the shareholders of Pepco who get a big windfall out of this. Those are the people who won today. The rest of us, we lost,” Cheh said.
Anya Schoolman with D.C. Solar United Neighborhoods said her group is extremely disappointed with the commission’s vote.
“For us one of the big questions is, will the mayor’s office or the People’s Counsel will seek reconsideration?” said Schoolman. The final terms of the merger were not the ones in another version of the deal approved by Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Bowser didn’t say anything about fighting the merger, but said in a statement that the commission favors government and commercial ratepayers over D.C. residents, who she says will see rates rise as soon as this summer.
While many argue the merger will be bad for customers, Jim Dinegar, president of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, said it will benefit them by giving them a power company better equipped to prevent and respond to power outages.
“We’re now with a capable company that when a storm hits, we don’t need to wait on Tennessee and Texas to send us the reserves. They’re here, and they’re nearby,” Dinegar said.
Pepco wouldn’t answer questions from reporters, but issued this statement: “We must carefully review the Commission’s order. Once we have had a chance to do so, we will have more to say about what it means and our next steps.”
Copyright 2016 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: Pepco, Exelon)
