Thursday, February 28, 2013
The Maryland Public Service Commission issued an order Wednesday directing electricity companies to improve service reliability and resiliency.
Chevy Chase's congressional representative, Rep. Christopher Van Hollen Jr., praised the Maryland Public Service Commission for Wednesday's order requiring the state's utility companies, such as Pepco, to improve the reliability and resiliency of electric service. "I commend the Maryland Public Service Commission for continuing to hold utilities accountable for their restoration efforts as a result of last summer’s derecho," Van Hollen (D-Dist. 8) of Kensington said in a statement. The commission, "using valuable input collected from affected residents, will order Pepco and other Maryland utilities to provide short-term and long-term plans that address sub-standard infrastructure, slow restoration efforts and lack of communication with …
The Maryland Public Service Commission issued an order on Wednesday directing electricity companies to improve service reliability and resiliency.
Utility companies in Maryland will need to beef up their efforts to improve electricity service reliability and resiliency, according to an order issued by the Maryland Public Service Commission on Wednesday, Feb. 27. The order (No. 85385) requires utility providers like Pepco to do the following: Pepco has 534,601 electricity customers in Maryland, and 410,679 (77 percent) of them were without power at the peak of electricity outages after the derecho—double the number of outages after Hurricane Irene, according to the commission's order. President Obama even declared that six jurisdictions in Maryland, including Montgomery County, were part of a major disaster area after the derecho, which occurred during a heat wave. On June 9, …
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Three new bills introduced on Tuesday in the Maryland House of Delegates aim to improve public participation in the Maryland Public Service Commission's oversight of utilities such as Pepco.
Three bills introduced Tuesday in the Maryland House of Delegates aim to make communication between the Maryland Public Service Commission and utility companies operating in Maryland more transparent. "We have a system in which the Maryland Public Service Commission [which oversees electric utility companies, including Pepco and BGE] had allowed our utilities to neglect their infrastructure to the point where it is literally crumbling," said state Delegate Al Carr Jr. (D-District 18), who introduced the three bills to improve public participation and public confidence in the PSC's oversight of utilities, according to a statement from Carr's office. One of the bills proposes live-streaming and archiving all PSC proceedings online. "It is …
Monday, January 14, 2013
In the wake of Pepco's most recent request for permission to raise electricity rates, the county tasked an assistant county attorney to focus solely on utility issues.
Montgomery County now has an in-house attorney dedicated to utility issues. "[Lawyer] Lisa Brennan moved from the Office of Consumer Protection, where she dealt frequently with utility issues, to the Office of the County Attorney where utilities will now dominate her time," Montgomery County spokesman Patrick Lacefield told The Gazette. So far, the county has hired outside attorneys as well as using in-house ones to fight against Pepco's rate increase requests. Dedicating one in-house attorney to utility issues, rather than paying for outside counsel, should save the county some money, The Gazette reported. The county's move to consolidate its efforts to ensure that county residents are paying fair prices for quality utilities comes in …
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Just what the opt-out option will be is still undecided, according to the Maryland Public Service Commission.
Marylanders less-than-thrilled at the thought of having smart meters in their homes might appreciate news from the Maryland Public Service Commission on Monday: The commission is requiring Pepco to give customers an alternative to smart meters—devices that send radio signals about a household’s electricity usage to Pepco. Just what that alternative will be is not yet settled, but the commission has narrowed the list down to two "opt-out" options: The commission will be holding proceedings to determine which alternative should go into effect, but in the meantime, Pepco customers who previously told the utility company that they did not want smart meters on their properties (this was allowed via an interim order from the commission in May) "…
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Seven Montgomery County Council members call the rate increase request "suspect, unwarranted and unjustified."
Little more than a week has passed since Pepco filed its most recent rate increase request (for $60.8 million) with the Maryland Public Service Commission, and the protests have begun already. Town of Somerset Council Member Cathy Pickar proposed that the Somerset Council write a letter of protest to the PSC to say that the town council is opposed to the rate increase, which Pickar described as "regulatory ransom." "[This rate increase suggests that] if you want improvement, you pay for it first." The rate increase—the second that Pepco has filed this year—has two parts to it, Patch reported last week: (A "typical" residential customer is one who uses approximately 1,000 kilowatt hours a month, Pepco said.) "There’s no question that we are…
Friday, November 30, 2012
Pepco also requested additional funds to accelerate reliability improvements.
If Pepco's most recent rate increase request is approved by the Maryland Public Service Commission, typical residential customers could pay $7.13 more a month in electricity bills. The 4.98 percent increase (based on a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours a month) would happen only if the PSC approves Pepco's request—made on Friday—for a $60.8 million increase in base distribution rates, according to a Pepco statement. The increase would pay for improvements that Pepco is in the process of making to its distribution system. The improvements—which began in 2010—appear to be working: By 2011, Maryland customers receiving electricity from upgraded feeders experienced 58 percent fewer outages and a 69 percent decrease in the…
Friday, October 26, 2012
The Maryland Public Service Commission today eliminated the storm bill stabilization 24-hour grace period.
Effectively immediately, Pepco and BGE customers will not be charged for sales lost during the first 24 hours of major storm power outages, by order of the Maryland Public Service Commission. Area residents this summer were outraged to find themselves charged for power during the weeklong outages caused by the June 29 derecho. The charges came as part of a Bill Stabilization Adjustment program, which allowed utilities to bill customers for the first 24 hours after a power outage, effectively charging customers for power when they have none. The program was designed to increase efficiency, according to the commission. Friday's orders, affecting Baltimore Gas and Electric Company, Delmarva Power and Light Company, Potomac Electric Power …
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Maryland Public Service Commission calls a public hearing for Sept. 24 to examine "bill stabilization."
The Maryland Public Service Commission is asking the public to weigh in on whether utilities should be able to collect a fee to recoup losses from catastrophic events such as major power outages. The commission, which oversees utilities including Pepco and Baltimore Gas and Electric, will hold a public hearing Sept. 24 in Baltimore. The fee, imposed under a regulation known as bill stabilization adjustment, allows utilities to charge ratepayers for losses sustained during the first 24 hours of major outages. Following backlash from the public and local officials over Pepco’s response to the crippling June 29 storm, the fee drew outrage from customers who were out of power for days. More than 100 readers weighed in on a Patch story about …
Monday, August 6, 2012
What was your Pepco experience after the June 29 derecho? The Maryland Public Service Commission wants to know.
The Maryland Public Service Commission wants to hear people’s experiences dealing with Pepco after thousands were left powerless for more than a week in the wake of the violent June 29 storm. A public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Council Office Building in Rockville, the first of eight hearings the PSC has planned statewide in order to assess the response of power companies following the derecho. At its peak, the storm caused power loss to more than 483,639 Pepco customers, Patch has reported. The utility company took nearly 10 days to fully restore power to all its customers, sparking public criticism from government leaders and lawmakers throughout the DC-metro region. “We need to hear from the customers, from the rate …
Joe Galvagna
9:19 am on Friday, March 1, 2013
Van Hollen is a joke. Where has he been on this issue. There should have been hard requirements set down long ago for Pepco and others this nothing new. This man is not the solution he is the problem he needs to go. He is so out out of touch with reality he is not even on the chart. Wake up people we need new blood to solve problems not make more. more ›