Our Pepco Rates Went Up, Thank Kenyan McDuffie and Pepco’s Lobbyists
On June 1st, Washingtonians’ Pepco rates went up. When we get our June bills, the cost of electricity will go up 6.2% for most families.
Published in the Hill Rag, Mark Rodeffer of the Sierra Club DC Chapter explains how Kenyan McDuffie is responsible for 80% of the increase because he blocked us from entering into fixed-price, long-term energy contracts when prices were much lower.
“[H]ouseholds’ electric bills would have been $24 lower a month, an annual savings of $288. Across all Pepco customers in DC, the higher bills total $137 million a year.”
Backstory: In 2018, then-Councilmember Mary Cheh introduced an energy bill that required Pepco to buy 80% of its electricity through long-term contracts for low-cost wind and solar energy by January 1, 2022. These Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) contracts lock in costs for the long term, protecting customers from price swings that are very common when relying on fossil fuel commodities like gas and coal. Pepco did not like being required to use power purchase agreements and Kenyan McDuffie used his role as committee chairman to remove that provision:
“McDuffie told WAMU the long-term contracts for clean energy could raise costs for ratepayers who buy electricity. Exelon executives made similar claims when testifying before the DC Council about the Clean Energy DC bill.”
If Councilmember Cheh had prevailed, DC would have locked in a contract when power cost $38 per megawatt hour (in late 2021). Today, we have to pay $88 per megawatt hour, more than double the price.
Kenyan McDuffie blocking PPAs has cost DC residents $137M so far and roughly $288 per year for the average DC user and nearly $500 for the average family.
Kenyan’s work on Pepco’s behalf means we are paying more than double what we would have. McDuffie’s choice to side with lobbyists over residents, and move their program has already cost us approximately $137M, and that number climbs every month.
According to a recent piece by Mark Rodeffer in the Hill Rag:
“At the lower cost that power purchase agreements would have locked in, such households’ electric bills would have been $24 lower a month, an annual savings of $288. Across all Pepco customers in DC, the higher bills total $137 million a year.”
Families tend to use more power and for them the cost is even higher:
“For a larger, older, or less efficient home that uses 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month, McDuffie’s move totals $40 per month or $480 a year in higher costs.”
This is part of a long pattern of Kenyan siding with Pepco
As chair of the committee with oversight of utilities, Kenyan also presided over the largest increase in electric bills anywhere in the United States:
Kenyan and Pepco have a revolving door
Four of Kenyan’s Chiefs of Staff, other key Council staff, campaign officers, and more have gone on to work with Pepco, Washington Gas, and their lobbyists. Utilities with business before Kenyan’s committee have frequently hired his top staffers, and when McDuffie needed a new chief of staff, he hired a Pepco senior staffer. Sierra Club has a more detailed account.
We can trust Janeese to lower our utility costs
Councilmember Janeese Lewis George has provided a comprehensive, 10-point plan that will lower our costs by:
- Protecting Washingtonians from Pepco and Washington Gas Rate Hikes
- Holding AI Data Centers Accountable
- Increasing Access to Affordable Energy Tools
- Removing Barriers to Energy Assistance for People Who Need It
- Stopping Energy Scams and Exploitation
Janeese is able to advance more effective solutions because she relies on experts and sides with everyday Washingtonians. She isn’t beholden to Pepco or Washington Gas. She hasn’t taken their campaign donations and her closest allies aren’t on their payrolls. She’s independent and it matters to everyone who will have to pay a Pepco bill.