Berliner Reacts to PSC Approval of Pepco Rate Increase

Montgomery County Councilmember Roger Berliner (District 1- Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Potomac) is expressing his disappointment about the decision of the Maryland Public Service Commission to approve a partial rate increase for Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco) in the amount of $27.9 million.

For an average residential customer, the increase will represent an additional $2.19 on their monthly bills. Pepco also requested a $192 million Grid Resiliency Charge (GRC), of which $24 million was granted.

Pepco originally requested an increase of $60.8 million. The application, filed on November 30, 2012, was the second request for an increase in electric distribution rates in the last two years and the third request in the last four years.

“I know that Montgomery County ratepayers share my disappointment in this decision,” said Berliner. “Our county argued that Pepco should, at best, only receive a 1/10th of what they asked for, not slightly less than half.

“As a county, we fought hard to stop Pepco from getting automatic trackers (immediate return) for reliability investments—investments we believe Pepco should be required to make to satisfy their fundamental obligation to provide reliable service. In this decision, the Commission allowed some trackers, but limited them to a few feeders, which represent approximately 12.5 percent of Pepco’s request.

“Our goal remains the same: require Pepco to make significant reliability improvements as soon as possible, and base their financial returns on their performance—not on the dollars they spend.”

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