Deadline to file public comment w DC #PSC on #ExelonPepcoMerger 5:30pm Dec23 #WTOP pic.twitter.com/v0cXsCnGGB
— Kristi King (@kingWTOP) December 23, 2015Group PowerDC Coalition opposes #ExelonPepcoMerger and says so in these letters to DC #PSC #WTOP pic.twitter.com/YLRZBGnhn9
— Kristi King (@kingWTOP) December 23, 2015Turning in letters of opposition to #PepcoExelonMerger @Anneseye supports 1st #PSC decision #WTOP pic.twitter.com/Qcq8f82eKX
— Kristi King (@kingWTOP) December 23, 2015Mike says it's his 1st protest in 25yrs - he's against #PepcoExelonMerger #WTOP pic.twitter.com/NzOAEJduFo
— Kristi King (@kingWTOP) December 23, 2015Mike Geske says spend$ to improve service. Not #ExelonPepcoMerger #WTOP pic.twitter.com/hObjulIl60
— Kristi King (@kingWTOP) December 23, 2015Letters to DC #PSC opposing #ExelonPepcoMerger #WTOP pic.twitter.com/4MEDvJ33Ej
— Kristi King (@kingWTOP) December 23, 2015WASHINGTON — The D.C. Public Service Commission is expected to rule early next year on whether it accepts or rejects a proposed merger of Exelon and Pepco that would create the nation’s largest electric utility.
The closing of the public comment period on the deal Wednesday drew a couple dozen people to the PSC’s offices downtown to file letters of opposition.
About 9,000 letters in support of the merger have been submitted during the comment period.
The Commission rejected the merger two months ago, but is now reconsidering a revised deal negotiated by Exelon and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser in which the utility contributes $78 million to the city.
“All this money that’s going out to coerce people to sign on to this deal, we’re the ones who’ll leverage all this money,” said Advisory Neighborhood Commission 7D Chair Sherice Muhammad. “How do they think they’re going to recoup this money? Through the taxpayers, through the rate payers.”
Advocates for the merger say it would lower rates and increase reliability.
“More than 40,000 District residents signed the petition to the PSC expressing their support for the merger for the affordability, reliability and sustainability benefits it will provide,” Exelon spokesman Paul Elsberg wrote in an email to WTOP.
The proposed merger already has been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and public utility commissions in Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland.
The D.C. Service Commission’s approval is required for the merger to be completed.
