[3/11/16] After several weeks of toing and froing, it appears that Mayor Bowser, the Office of the People's Council, and the Attorney General may have decided that the various changes in Exelon proposals do not make this company and it's obsolescent nuclear plants a good, safe fit for us, the DC rate and tax payers. However the Public Service Commission could still vote to accept the new deal without DC officials signing off. They have until April 7 to act. Meanwhile Exelon stock continues a steady rise. Stock price hit a low in mid December (see 12/18/15 below) when the federal General Services Administration again came out against Exelon. Since March 2nd the rise is continuous. What do the stockholders know that we don't? Is a final fix in?
On the other hand Pepco stock prices have been on a roller coaster. Whatever is happening their stockholders don't seem to know what Exelon stockholders know. On the other hand PEPCO stockholders may know what Exelon stockholders don't know. Since March 2nd their shares have been trading much below the promised price near $28. Is there possible market manipulation going on? Making it appear that the Exelon deal will fail while those in the know buy PEPCO stock cheap. Then get the guaranteed higher price when DC caves to the Exelon deal.
[3/15/16] After a few more days it appears the Exelon stock has leveled off, and PEPCO stock is staying low. Perhaps what is happening is that people far away figure that Exelon is going to win its bid, whereas people in DC believe that PEPCO will NOT be bought with the guaranteed payout. Nevertheless, with a dividend of almost 5%, and the likelihood of other suitors in the future PEPCO is probably a decent buy if income is a goal.
[3/16/16] This afternoon around 4pm I heard former Mayor Anthony Williams urging support for Exelon. Then a leader on the Board of Trade also spoke in favor, listing all the old "benefits" they were selling 3 months ago. We have not won yet!
[2/26/16] The Public Service Commission (PSC) has just voted 2 to 1 to ask some changes of Exelon prior to giving approval. They don't sound very good according to this article. I see the $78 million benefits package that encouraged so many DC groups to testify in favor of the Exelon takeover would now be kept "in escrow until it can be determined how best to spend it, and removing a requirement that the company develop microgrids in the District." This ensures that the many DC groups who expected a payout for their support will now have to BEG the Mayor and others for their payoff.
It also means that the Federal Govt.'s folks at GSA who thought they had a deal with the Mayor through Tommy Wells are also sxxxxed. Since the Feds use 1/3rd the electricity in DC, perhaps they will reactivate their objections. Where are all those nosy Congresspeople when their DC control might actually be useful. I would also like to know the size of our DC Govt. electric bill? Is our Mayor also doing it to the taxpayers in addition to the ratepayers given the likely rate increases to DC Govt. under Exelon?
This hearing was a fascinating study in how huge business spends their money to mobilize support and destroy the efforts of "We the People." The PSC will probably make their final ruling some time in March (see above), so we have time to mobilize more effort to stop Exelon. In fact, the PSC will accept letters regarding the Exelon takeover until Dec. 23rd. One thing I had not realized before doing research for this Community Hearing, was how desperate Exelon was to save themselves at our expense. It seems they are making some halfhearted efforts to increase their portfolio of renewables, but their overload of nuclear is truly a rotting albatross around their necks. [President Obama has just recognized the need for earthquake protection with an Executive Order aimed at protecting government buildings.]
Pepco has been busy trying to sell this buyout (it is not a merger). Pepco stockholders will receive $27.25 per share of Pepco paid by Exelon. They will receive NO Exelon stock. In addition the CEO of Pepco will receive $10 million, and $30 million total will be paid to top Pepco executives. In addition, Mayor Bowser's favorite staffer will receive a guaranteed buyout of more than $1 million in Pepco stock. There are also a number of other good reasons for not approving this buyout. The following protection was eliminated over a decade ago. Now we see the results. The Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 placed restrictions on utility holding companies in order to protect ratepayers against the holding-company excesses that contributed to the Great Depression.
By all means read the first three links below my current testimony. The fourth link is my previous blog article on this struggle against Exelon/PEPCO. The saddest thing to see was the score or more of apparently low income people wearing identical green T-shirts, green hats, and carrying large printed pro Exelon signs. Several of us heard that they were being paid at least $15 to show up and sit in the audience. Sadly, in 10 years most of them will be unable to afford to live in DC. If you know more about this, please post a comment with details.
A second piece of trickery was the treatment of the public as compared to the paid audience members. Two people have told me how they and a number of others were detained in the lobby instead of being allowed upstairs. Thus while paid pro-Exelon people were allowed into the hearing, the general public including anti-Exelon ratepayers were kept out. One person, a listed witness, was allowed upstairs and reported back that there was plenty of seating in the hearing room for those kept out in the lobby. Please comment if you were among the victims detained in the lobby.
A third piece of funny business was the fact that a single individual phoned in a list of almost 70 names of potential witnesses. Apparently PSC made NO EFFORT to vet this individual. They were numbered starting from 150. You will note they are alphabetical by FIRST name, odd in itself. The Tuesday hearing was ended a little after 4:30 pm at number 118. The total list was 259 names. Wednesday at lunch time I dropped in at PSC to listen to more testimony. Discovered they were finished around 12:30. Someone who had been there the whole time said that when all those people, whose names were called in by ONE person, were called on to testify, NOT A SINGLE ONE responded.
I wonder how the PSC felt about having their time wasted like that? How do you feel about having your money wasted that way on their salaries. Let's try to calculate it: Salary wasted by someone recording the 70 names, someone typing up the 70 names, the 13 extra pages the names were printed on, the paper wasted printing all these extra pages, 3 commissioners and 10 or more staff salaries as they sat through the reading of these 13 pages. Does this add up to enough for a grand larceny charge. If not criminal, could we sue for civil damages and punitive damages for wasting our tax money? WHO MADE THAT CALL??? If you know, please add a comment.
The harmful result of that trickery is that people who thought they could testify after those individuals did not even arrive before the hearings were shut down. Here is one outraged comment: "Even more of a problem is that the additional names, who probably never intended to testify, were accepted onto the list by the Secty of the PSC without verification from those individuals. The result of allowing all these false names, I was placed at number 2XX. I didn't think they would get to me until after 1pm today, actually figuring closer to 5pm. I got there at 1:45pm and it was over. The false ballooning of the list messed any real understanding of a schedule and prevented me [and probably others] from testifying. I don't understand why this was even allowed to happen." I think we can all understand that this is how Exelon operates and is a dismal portent of our future relations with them.
The suspicious names start at number 150 and run to 216. Do you recognize what group, Ward, etc. these names might have been culled from? Did the individual making the call to PSC even have permission to use their names? If not, would they want to sue? Here is the link for all the PSC witnesses. Below that is a much more compact link I edited. Since I can't get a URL from Libre Office I am posting this condensed list as a separate blog post.
http://dcpsc.org/pdf_files/hottopics/FC1119_ListofSpeakers.pdf
http://gleeaikin.blogspot.com/2015/11/dc-psc-community-hearing-witness-list.html
[12/2/15] - Today the PSC held the hearing for the participants in the deal, Exelon, PEPCO and others. One disappointment, the federal government's General Services Admin. which had previously questioned Exelon sharply over their effect on federal government electrical costs, and thus the taxpayers dollars, decided to sit this one out according to this report. This may have happened because the GSA wanted DC's help with an energy project., reports the Washington Post. To quote Tommy Wells, currently DC Director of Energy & Environment, and negotiator for Mayor Bowser, "I told them, we could prioritize you (GSA) for one of these microgrids...I do think they would be interested in that...We are very interested in helping."
[12/5/15] - A lively demonstration against Exelon/PEPCO was held outside PSC's building and reported on the noon news on the 2nd. Exelon stock continued to decline in value as the afternoon progressed. Now, 3 days later, Exelon stock fell even further on Friday as the general market rose. In addition it appears the the GSA wanted more time to formulate its response. So perhaps there is time to get Congress involved to keep the federal government from paying excessive electric rates.
[12/7/15] - Four courageous DC Council members have submitted a heavily footnoted letter to the PSC describing the many reasons PSC should continue to deny approval of this merger. Among other things Mary Cheh, David Grosso, Elissa Silverman, and Charles Allen point out that compared with likely profits of $100 million a year, the one time payments of less than $80 million to city and ratepayers is a bargain. They also explain that a number of these payments to DC will merely replace money that would have been spent anyway, leaving those funds to be spent in unknown ways.
[12/8/15] - Exelon/Pepco hired the Howard Theater and provided a catered sideboard to all who attended their "Town Hall" on this merger/takeover. They also put a green shopping bag containing a green hat and a green water bottle, all printed with pro Exelon advertising under every seat. They plan to hold these events throughout the city. The next day, at a Ward 4 monthly ANC meeting, the elected members voted unanimously to continue to oppose this takeover. Glad some of our elected public servants have not yet been bought.
[12/16/15] - An article from WAMU confirms that in late September payments were made by Exelon to the Chairman of Fresh-PAC, a group formed to collect campaign money in support of Muriel Bowser. The goal was to encourage these people to lobby the Mayor to support Exelon. A few days later Mayor Bowser switched her support to Exelon. This PAC which received a lot of criticism has now been ended, and funds are being returned. Other interesting articles are linked at the end.
[12/18/15] - The federal General Services Administration has now reversed its former stance on this buyout. They now complain that it is unfair that they as the largest electricity user in the city and other commercial users get no benefits like small ratepayers. Time will tell if they are also bought off by sweetheart deals that will cost taxpayers instead of ratepayers. Meanwhile Exelon continues to spend large amounts of money to mail cards, pay for ads, robocalls, and other means of persuading the public that they are a good thing. This Washington Post article also has interesting comments.
The witnesses fell into several categories:
1) Con. People who had deep inside knowledge of how the nuclear industry and Exelon are operating, such as a former TVA executive, were uniformly against.
2) Pro. Local organizations who have been getting PEPCO money, and are told they will get Exelon money were uniformly in favor. Apparently $79 million which our government should probably mostly be paying anyway is hard to compare with a $multibillion bill for an accident or shutting down 1 or more Exelon nuclear plants.http://gleeaikin.blogspot.com/2015/11/dc-psc-community-hearing-witness-list.html
[12/2/15] - Today the PSC held the hearing for the participants in the deal, Exelon, PEPCO and others. One disappointment, the federal government's General Services Admin. which had previously questioned Exelon sharply over their effect on federal government electrical costs, and thus the taxpayers dollars, decided to sit this one out according to this report. This may have happened because the GSA wanted DC's help with an energy project., reports the Washington Post. To quote Tommy Wells, currently DC Director of Energy & Environment, and negotiator for Mayor Bowser, "I told them, we could prioritize you (GSA) for one of these microgrids...I do think they would be interested in that...We are very interested in helping."
[12/5/15] - A lively demonstration against Exelon/PEPCO was held outside PSC's building and reported on the noon news on the 2nd. Exelon stock continued to decline in value as the afternoon progressed. Now, 3 days later, Exelon stock fell even further on Friday as the general market rose. In addition it appears the the GSA wanted more time to formulate its response. So perhaps there is time to get Congress involved to keep the federal government from paying excessive electric rates.
[12/7/15] - Four courageous DC Council members have submitted a heavily footnoted letter to the PSC describing the many reasons PSC should continue to deny approval of this merger. Among other things Mary Cheh, David Grosso, Elissa Silverman, and Charles Allen point out that compared with likely profits of $100 million a year, the one time payments of less than $80 million to city and ratepayers is a bargain. They also explain that a number of these payments to DC will merely replace money that would have been spent anyway, leaving those funds to be spent in unknown ways.
[12/8/15] - Exelon/Pepco hired the Howard Theater and provided a catered sideboard to all who attended their "Town Hall" on this merger/takeover. They also put a green shopping bag containing a green hat and a green water bottle, all printed with pro Exelon advertising under every seat. They plan to hold these events throughout the city. The next day, at a Ward 4 monthly ANC meeting, the elected members voted unanimously to continue to oppose this takeover. Glad some of our elected public servants have not yet been bought.
[12/16/15] - An article from WAMU confirms that in late September payments were made by Exelon to the Chairman of Fresh-PAC, a group formed to collect campaign money in support of Muriel Bowser. The goal was to encourage these people to lobby the Mayor to support Exelon. A few days later Mayor Bowser switched her support to Exelon. This PAC which received a lot of criticism has now been ended, and funds are being returned. Other interesting articles are linked at the end.
[12/18/15] - The federal General Services Administration has now reversed its former stance on this buyout. They now complain that it is unfair that they as the largest electricity user in the city and other commercial users get no benefits like small ratepayers. Time will tell if they are also bought off by sweetheart deals that will cost taxpayers instead of ratepayers. Meanwhile Exelon continues to spend large amounts of money to mail cards, pay for ads, robocalls, and other means of persuading the public that they are a good thing. This Washington Post article also has interesting comments.
The witnesses fell into several categories:
1) Con. People who had deep inside knowledge of how the nuclear industry and Exelon are operating, such as a former TVA executive, were uniformly against.
3) Pro. Individuals who think that PEPCO is so bad, that surely a much larger business based in Chicago will give them better and quicker service.
4) Con. Political activists who have consistently fought the big money giveaways by bought and paid for elected politicians, and see more big payoffs resulting in forcing the poor out of DC, and impoverishing the elderly and middle class as well.
If after reading these testimonies you agree that Exelon takeover is bad for us, study the lists available above and call those you may know and convince them to also come out against this sell-out. I find it particularly hard to understand why businesses would imagine that higher electric bills will be good for their bottom line.
DC
Public Service Commission Community Hearing,
Formal Case 1119
November 17 &
18, 2015, 10 am to 7 pm,
1325 G St., NW, Room
800, Washington, DC 20005
Testimony by G. Lee
Aikin, 54 year DC Resident
DC Statehood Green Party
Thank you for hearing our many
voices today. I previously reported to you my concerns regarding
potential earthquake danger to Exelon's 23 nuclear plants. Since the
5.8 earthquake in Mineral, VA, there have continued to be small
local quakes. In addition to owning Three Mile Island, Exelon now
has interests in the Calvert Cliffs nuclear plants. Please be sure
to check the earthquake standard for each plant that DC rate payers
would help pay for should the worst happen as it did in Japan. North
Anna, VA was built to a 6.0 standard, not a very comfortable margin
to the 5.8 quake that did strike. It cost Three Mile Island more
than $1 billion to clean up in the 1970s and 1980s. Far more in
today's dollars. [A witness in favor of Exelon said they need their payoff to repair earthquake damage at Carter Barron. President Obama has just recognized the need for earthquake protection with an Executive Order.]
Today I want to call your
attention to the aging nature of the Exelon stable of nuclear plants.
It has been stated it could cost $1 billion to shut down a nuclear
plant. Two hundred (200) nuclear reactors are slated to be shut down
by 2040 which could cost more than $100 billion for decommissioning
costs. The International Energy Agency (IEA) warns there are
“considerable uncertainties” about these costs. Governments have
limited experience with this as only 10 plants were decommissioned in
the past 40 years. {1}
Looking at one specific
example we find the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant in Southern
California. Because of premature wear on important parts, in June,
2013, the complete closure of the plant was announced, to begin in
early 2016. The Nuclear regulatory Commission believes this process
will take around 20 years costing $4.4 billion. Do you really want
to risk subjecting us all to those kinds of costs? {1}
Much credit is given by the
nuclear folks to the lack of air pollution compared with coal, oil,
and gas. However, a major issue facing decommissioning is storage of
nuclear waste left behind by the plant. With so many plants about to
be decommissioned, this will become a key issue. Most states won't
allow these environmentally hazardous nuclear waste products. {1}
In Illinois, Exelon has warned
they would have to close 3 nuclear plants “unless consumers chip in
to reward them for producing environmentally-friendly electricity.”
Recently introduced Illinois legislation “would create a financial
reward for generators that produce 'clean' energy which doesn't
create harmful greenhouse gases.” The ratepayers would finance it.
{2} Apparently they don't want to acknowledge the environmental
danger and cost of spent nuclear fuel. Do we really want to be under
the thumb of a company which is already coercing the Illinois
legislature to finance its uneconomic business model?
In the US, four reactors were
permanently closed in 2013. “A glut of shale gas,
government-subsidized wind power and slack demand slashed power
prices more than 40% since 2008, making it hard to justify
costly-repairs or continued operations of aging nuclear units.”
“Given current economics with natural gas prices, it is very hard
for nuclear to compete,” said Philip Smyth, a power analyst with
Fitch Ratings.” {3}
“Exelon's Clinton facility
in Illinois is among nuclear generators that may be shut down from
either political or financial pressure.” “Exelon...underperformed
the S&P Utility Index in the past 5 years....and has seen stock
prices fall since July 2008 [to 2013] by 62%.” In 2013 “Exelon
was forced to cut its quarterly dividend for the first time amid
falling electricity prices...” Meanwhile, Exelon has “projected
about $900 million in additional cost for their reactors from new
Fukushima-related safety rules over the next 6 years [starting 2013]
according to regulatory filings.” {3} Why on earth would you want
us to pay for that?
Exelon has 11 of its nuclear
plants in Illinois, licenses for 7 of them are expiring in from 7 to
12 years. When do their other 12 nuclear plant licenses expire? No
wonder they want to own our DC rate payers. {4}
| ILLINOIS | ||
| Braidwood 1 | Exelon | October 17, 2026 |
| Braidwood 2 | Exelon | December 18, 2027 |
| Byron 1 | Exelon | October 31, 2024 |
| Byron 2 | Exelon | November 6, 2026 |
| Clinton | Exelon | September 29, 2026 |
| Dresden 2 | Exelon | December 22, 2029 |
| Dresden 3 | Exelon | January 12, 2031 |
| La Salle County 1 | Exelon | April 17, 2022 |
| La Salle County 2 | Exelon | December 16, 2023 |
| Quad Cities 1 | Exelon | December 14, 2032 |
| Quad Cities 2 | Exelon | December 14, 2032 |
| Clinton* | Exelon | Proposed |
Please don't allow us all to
become victims of Exelon's corporate strategy and need to keep its
stockholders happy. Your duty is to protect us the residents of
Washington, DC.
{1}
http://www.energydigital.com/utilities/3684/What-Does-it-Cost-to-Decommission-a-Nuclear-Power-Plant
{3}
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-07-21/nuclear-closures-at-entergy-to-exelon-seen-on-obama-plan
{4} http://gleeaikin.blogspot.com/2015/01/exelonpepco-merger-is-it-good-for-dc.html
The two stock market charts below from Market Watch explain their fear. The numbers on the right side are the dollar value of the shares. In mid 2008 stock was worth $90 per share. This Friday (11-19-15) their shares were worth $28 each, as the second chart shows. Their stockholders must be spitting bullets at management.
[For some reason these two charts are not printing from the draft to the published article. However, clicking the 2 blue links in the explanations brings them up.]
{4} http://gleeaikin.blogspot.com/2015/01/exelonpepco-merger-is-it-good-for-dc.html
The two stock market charts below from Market Watch explain their fear. The numbers on the right side are the dollar value of the shares. In mid 2008 stock was worth $90 per share. This Friday (11-19-15) their shares were worth $28 each, as the second chart shows. Their stockholders must be spitting bullets at management.
[For some reason these two charts are not printing from the draft to the published article. However, clicking the 2 blue links in the explanations brings them up.]
Here is a chart of the past 15 years of Exelon stock market activity. They trade under the symbol EXC. Note their value dropped quickly with the beginning of Obama administration, and even more after the fears raised in {3} article above.
Below is a chart of Exelon's last 10 days of market activity. Note how the value dropped sharply during the first day of the PSC hearing, but rose again during the second day, but on Thursday trended downward again. The part of the chart labeled "Volume" means the number of shares bought and sold each day and with this chart by the hour. When you click the 10 day link you get today's figure. You also have the option there of asking for a chart of more or less day's activity. Today, 11/20/15 the value has dropped to the low point on Tuesday. Don't give up, we can still win.
Here is additional information regarding earthquake potential in the eastern United States. We really need to make sure that the PSC thinks this issue through carefully. In addition, they need to heed the warning of the 7 staff members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission who have petitioned their bosses to have serious electrical problems in almost every reactor fixed immediately, or else shut these reactors down.
Joyce Robinson-Paul, Consumer Utility Board (Ward 5)
Testimony before the Public Service Commission, Community Hearing, Exelon-Pepco Settlement Proposal for Formal Case No 1119
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Good Afternoon: This will be my 30th year coming before the Public Service Commission as a past and present member of the Consumer Utility Board(CUB). First, I would like to thank the Office of the People's Counsel for their assistance over the years in providing the public with transparent information concerning utility issues. I would also like to thank the Public Service Commission for providing this community hearing after agreeing that Formal Case No. 1119 Merger was not in the Public Interest of the District of Columbia.
Pepco has fallen short of providing reliable service to the customers of the District of Columbia after many years of promising to do so. Why would we trust Exelon, whose main headquarters is in Chicago, who only agrees to co-locate for at least ten years to provide reliable, affordable service? The greatest beneficiaries of this settlement are Pepco's President, Joe Rigby, who will receive $10.1 million compensation, and five others, who will receive $30.1 million in bonuses! The $5.2 million to the District to support workforce development programs will be given to the Department of Employment Services and UDC. However, there is no guarantee this will be used exclusively for residents of the District of Columbia to acquire and obtains jobs at Exelon.
The biggest Benefit is to Pepco Holdings shareholders, who will receive 50% over the book value and about 25% over the market value per share. This will cause Exelon shareholders, to become a bigger company. The big question is: What happens before and after 2019 (five years down the road)? The city can't continue to let developers and corporations create mass homelessness. Everyone is aware that the government already has been unsuccessful finding housing for the current homeless population. Will seniors who are paying over 50% of their housing cost for utilities, which, include increasing water and sewer costs, and increased tax assessment costs be priced out of DC?.
Electric is a basic need, why would any settlement put low and moderate income residents in a balloon note situation in five years. Residents have a right to affordable electric in our homes? Electric is a basic need, unlike a phone which can be shut off, if the price gets too costly for your income. Many of the seniors who are homeowners will be gentrified out of D.C. Is the plan for only the rich to live in Washington, DC. after five years? These are the residents who stayed and payed, when many people left the city for the suburbs. After five years is the plan to displace them because they are on a fixed retirement income?
Low and Moderate Income Senior citizens and working poor are like the Man in the Middle . They earn too much to qualify for the Low Income Energy Assistance Program and too little to keep up with the greedy monopolies. Why should this or any settlement place Senior Citizens in jeopardy of mass displacement in 2019? How can we let a Major monopoly like Exelon come here and cause mass displacement of our residents? Just because the Mayor agrees and the government says it's a settlement, doesn't mean it is. Will greed and a pay-to-play system continue in DC. Most citizens, including you, must all agree that this settlement is not acceptable. It is a rip-off of DC's vulnerable citizens, and every elected official will be paid by PEPCO at election time. The pay-off should be to VOTE this administration out of office. SWEEP the officials out the door.
SUMMATION: There are very few tangible benefits for the ratepayers. PEPCO's improved electric service reliability sucks; however, they will be paid over $30.1 million in benefits. Promoting rate affordability, including affordable housing is the big joke in DC. It is the biggest lie ever told. As long as greed prevails over needs, this city's elected officials will go down as the disgraceful home rulers, who turned on their taxpayers and voters who believed they could make a difference. This settlement does not address jobs for D.C. residents. It only gives more money to the various agencies that will continue business as usual. The millions that are given to non-profits should be put in a fund to help senior citizens stay in their homes. If $6.75 million can be implemented in multi-family and master metered apartments, the same amount should be placed in a fund to help seniors stay in their homes.
The Solar Interconnection process should be shortened to two months or a fine assessed to PEPCO. At least $5 million should be available to OPC to promote Energy Efficiency programs and services. The $5 million loan to the District government for development of renewable energy programs should be a grant. This can be accomplished by reducing the compensation and bonuses to PEPCO Executives. Over $15 million should go to the Low Income Energy Assistance Program, so that low income residents receive funds all year long. $1 million should be provided to forgive low income families accounts.
The CUB requests that:
*Both OPC and the PSC closely monitor settlement agreement benefits to make sure DC ratepayers receive real benefits in a timely manner.
*That PSC level the maximum financial penalties for delays and or missed deadline for those purported benefits to DC Consumers.
*That the PSC agree to hold status meetings twice a year starting in 2016 to update the public as it relates to the settlement agreement benefits achieved.
*PSC require additional quality of service standards that would make sure the new company expands its call center in DC to limit wait time in talking to a representatives within 8 to 10 minutes, and
*Have the company dedicate at least 3 staff to work on senior issues as dedicated phone lines.*Would like the OPC to hold four community information sessions in each quadrant of the city to update residents on both the undergrounding project and status of the purported benefits from the merger/takeover.
*Have the utility work with both AARP, DC Office of Aging and the Department of Human Service to identify seniors living alone or in trouble with their high utility cost.
*OPC and the PSC should coordinate with the committee to have an oversight hearing on what is not working.
This message is from IPADDRESS: 164.82.32.13
Referrer: http://www.dcpsc.org/contactus/contactus.asp
Here is a subsequent letter from Joyce Robinson-Paul to the Public Service Commission prior to their Dec. 23, 2015 deadline for public comment:
[Pending receipt of transferable copy.]
From: David Schwartzman <dschwartzman@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Nov 16, 2015 at 5:41 PM
Subject: My written testimony
To: "PSC - Commission Secretary (PSC)" <Psc-CommissionSecretary@dc.gov>
Re: Exelon-Pepco Merger proposal
For the reasons outlined in Power DC’s powerful critique of the proposed takeover of Pepco by Exelon now being reconsidered by the Public Service Commission (PSC), the PSC should not accept the Mayor’s deal with Exelon, and any such a merger with Pepco, in other words stand by its original decision. In addition, such a takeover of Pepco by Exelon would be a serious assault on the vision and goals of Sustainable DC, in particular its commitment to curbing carbon emissions in the face of ever closer tipping points to catastrophic climate change. Achieving this goal will require rapid replacement of fossil fuel dependence for energy delivery by wind and solar power.
Exelon has demonstrated its unwelcome agenda of resisting this transition to renewable energy supplies, e.g., by its close alliance with the Edison Electric Institute (Exelon CEO Chris Crain is Vice Chairman of the Edison Electric Institute), which actively collaborates with ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC is a right-wing national group pushing a legislative agenda for voter disenfranchisement/suppression, particularly targeted against the African-American, Hispanic and the low-income electorate, as well as the removal of subsidies for wind/solar power development. I provided relevant documentation on these facts in my testimony to the PSC on December 17, 2014. Given the Exelon/ALEC collaboration, our Mayor’s promotion of the Exelon takeover is very disturbing, but not entirely surprising in light of the Federal City Council’s (FCC) support, which has long set the agenda for our local elected politicians.
Note the following, as well as the dozens of full page ads in the Washington Post and other local newspapers supporting the Mayor’s deal with Exelon: ‘The utilities and their supporters, spearheaded by the Federal City Council and its chief executive, former D.C. mayor Anthony A. Williams, mounted a campaign that delivered strong support for the deal from the business, philanthropic and political communities. “We applauded the hard-fought settlement negotiated by Mayor Bowser as a good deal,” Williams’s office said in an e-mail. “There is a wave of support with the majority of the D.C. Council and many original opponents of the merger now behind the settlement. This decision by the PSC is another step in the right direction.”’ (https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/exelon-bid-to-buy-pepco-gets-boost/2015/10/28/c76353a8-7d83-11e5-beba-927fd8634498_story.html).
It is clear the FCC has put its heavy weight of influence and corporate funding behind this unwelcome deal, including its familiar use of “trickle down” economics to further its goals, with numerous non-profits so dependent for their funding being bought off without consideration of the real interests of the community they pretend to serve.
It is high time that our local elected government and the PSC begin resisting the lobbyists and agenda of the FCC (http://www.federalcitycouncil.org/) which has contributed significantly to the high income inequality and insecurity as well as poverty in the District over the last few decades. The FCC has long represented the interests of the big corporate/banking sector at the expense of the quality of life for our residents, and in this case our children’s future in face of dangerous climate change. The PSC should resist the corruption of our democracy by the big corporate sector undermining the popular will against this takeover expressed by ANC resolutions prior to the original decision, and the voices heard by letters and in the public hearings this coming week. Say no to Exelon!
David Schwartzman (Professor Emeritus, Howard University)
DC Statehood Green Partydschwartzman@gmail.com, 202-829-9063
No comments:
Post a Comment