WASHINGTON — Friday was supposed to be the “drop dead” date for the Exelon-Pepco merger, but now it looks like the two companies will keep talking.
Previously, Exelon officials said that if the settlement for a merger of the two utilities wasn’t approved by D.C. regulators by March 4, the energy giant would have the right to walk away from the merger.
But Paul Elsberg, Senior Manager of Media Relations for Exelon, said in an email statement that because the D.C. Public Service Commission issued its decision (with new conditions) last week, “the March 4th date is no longer a trigger.”
Now, Elsberg explained in the email, Exelon and Pepco “continue to have conversations with the settling parties about the order and the new provisions, and will provide an update at the appropriate time.”
Nine parties are involved in the settlement that would allow the merger between Chicago-based Exelon and Pepco. This week, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser surprised many observers by withdrawing her support for the $6.8 billion deal.
On Thursday, D.C. Water joined those objecting to the merger.
Bowser said she objected to the new provisions set by regulators regarding rate payer protections.
The mayor said the changes by the PSC would “gut” those protections, but in an interview with WTOP last Friday — the day the PSC issued its decision — PSC Chair Betty Ann Kane said regulators called for the creation of sub accounts to be controlled by Pepco. That way, regulators would have authority over where the funds would go.
Kane said that had those monies been under D.C. government control, regulators would have no way to make certain they would not be diverted to the government’s general fund, something she says has happened “time and time and time again” in the past.
