Pepco is ripping off consumers. After doubling our electric bills, Pepco is now demanding another huge rate hike.

This may be great for Pepco’s investors, especially the big banks, but it will be a disaster for working families throughout the District of Columbia.

Pepco, the District of Columbia’s monopoly distributer of electricity to all residents, is seeking a $51.7 million rate hike. The D.C. Public Service Commission, the agency which “regulates” electric companies in the District of Columbia, claims it wants your opinion. Do they really?

• Public hearings regarding Pepco’s proposed $51.7 million rate hike to be held on three consecutive Saturdays at the D.C. Public Service Commission headquarters;
• Immediate moratorium on shutoffs of electricity services;
• 50 percent rollback in rates.

The Public Service Commission has scheduled the public hearings regarding Pepco’s rate hike with the intention of shutting out public opinion:

• The first public hearing was held in Chevy Chase at the end of last month. Poorly publicized by the Public Service Commission and held in one of the most affluent areas of the District, only four people attended.
• The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 19 at 6:30 pm at the Hilcrest Recreation Center in Southeast. To get there, you must take the metro and a bus, or metro and then walk a mile, making it impossible for many D.C. residents to get to the hearing after work.
• The final and main public hearing will be on Friday, Nov. 20 at the Public Service Commission offices in Downtown D.C., but will be held at 10:00 am. For many residents, the only way to voice their opinion will be to take time off from work.

This is a conspiracy between the D.C. Government and Pepco to shut us out of the discussions. They know, in this time of immense economic hardship, the last thing that D.C. residents need is bigger utility bills and risk having their electricity shut off it they cannot pay—all so that a multi-billion dollar corporation can make even greater profits.

Last year, Pepco’s parent company, Pepco Holdings, made $10.7 billion in revenues, and $300 million in profit! It recently received nearly $170 million in federal stimulus money. Meanwhile, D.C. has the highest child poverty rate in the United States. This year, 3,000 residents lost their homes to foreclosure. The last thing we need is a $51.7 million rate hike and another spike in our electric bills, which have doubled in the last 5 years.

In addition to taking action to demand real public hearings, we encourage you to attend and sign up to testify at the hearings that have already been scheduled. To participate in the hearings, you should sign up in advance by contacting the Commission Secretary at 202-626-5150 by the close of business, at least 3 days before each hearing and ask to be placed on the public witness list.

The two remaining scheduled hearings are:

Thursday, Nov. 19 at 6:30 p.m.
Hilcrest Recreation Center
3100 Denver Street, SE

Friday, Nov. 20 at 10 a.m.
DC Public Service Commission
1333 H Street NW
Hearing Room, 7th Floor East Tower