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, 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…
Bob
10:40 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Perhaps now we can get PSC to move on ensuring that the utilities billing methods are accurate, including computations on bills that are incorrect or not properly listed. At least 2 times a year Pepco, for example, changes from winter to summer rates; changes to service and tax/fee rates are also applied throughout the year. My Pepco bills only show one rate for a billing item, usually the rate … more ›