Seasons Greetings Neighbors,
As we prepare for a winter snow storm, please keep in mind our electricity bills.
Did you know that PEPCO is asking state regulators for a distribution rate increase?
PEPCO’s proposed increase would grow its existing summer rates by 15 percent and winter rates by 33 percent, for an overall increase of 23 percent. Because PEPCO’s summer rates apply for 5 months of the year and its winter rates apply for 7 months, the overall increase reflects a weighted average of those two seasonal rates. The proposed increase would follow a decade of steadily rising distribution rates. If approved by the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC), it would mean distribution rates will have increased about 63 percent since 2020 and 132 percent since 2016.
This comes on the heels when Maryland legislators effectively eliminated our consumer choice in utility suppliers so PEPCO and other energy distributors, like SMECO and BGE, have a monopoly on both the supply and distribution sides of electricity generation and distribution, which state legislators need to fix.
To better explain PEPCO’s recent rate proposal, the Maryland Office of the People's Counsel prepared a guide. Click here for: “A Consumer's Guide to PEPCO's Proposed Rate Increase". The Consumer Guide identifies how much rates would increase under Pepco’s proposal and how they have grown in recent years, the novel type of rate proceeding Pepco is seeking along with its implications, and how you can get involved.
PEPCO is proposing a new method for setting its rates based on forecasted costs. The Office of the People's Counsel is asking the PSC to reject PEPCO's request and apply standard ratemaking policies to evaluate PEPCO’s proposal. It is also is evaluating PEPCO’s proposal and will advocate in the rate proceeding to keep residential rates as low as possible while maintaining safe and reliable service.
If you would like to be involved and also ask the PSC to reject PEPCO's proposal, please consider doing one or more of the following three (3) actions:
Stay informed. All public filings in this case are accessible on the PSC’s website. To access the case docket, use the following link and search for Case No. 9820: https://webpscxb.psc.state.md.us/DMS/home.
Submit a written comment. In each rate case, the PSC solicits written comments from impacted customers. Written comments can be submitted at any time before the evidentiary record closes. The following website provides information on how to submit a comment: https://www.psc.state.md.us/make-a-public-comment/.
Attend the public comment hearings. For each rate case, the PSC holds public comment hearings—both virtual and in-person—to allow members of the public to bring their concerns directly to them. The dates for these hearings will be set in the coming months and will be published by the Commission and Pepco. I will send another email alerting you to the hearing date.
Stay warm and informed! Please share with your neighbors.
"The heaviest penalty for deciding not to engage in politics is to be ruled by someone inferior to yourself." Plato
Warm regards,
Tamara Davis Brown
A Name You Know, A Voice You Trust.
Candidate, District 9 County Council
To make a contribution to my campaign, click here: DONATE, or mail checks payable to Tamara Davis Brown for Prince George's County, P.O. Box 1292 Clinton, MD 20735.
By Authority: Tamara Davis Brown for Prince George's County, Barbara D. Waits, Treasurer
Tamara Davis Brown for Prince George's County | P.O. Box 1292 | Clinton, MD 20735 US
