Pepco’s status as one of the nation’s most reviled utilities hasn’t stopped it from trying to squeeze more money out of its long-suffering customers at every opportunity. The latest example is its attempt to extract $52.1 million from 258,000 District customers with a 6.23 percent rate hike request submitted Friday to the D.C. Public Service Commission.

Pepco claims it needs more money to pay for “significant investment in infrastructure.” That’s the same argument the utility has used to get $72 million in rate hikes approved since 2006, including $24 million last year after June’s derecho left hundreds of thousands of local residents sweltering without power in 100-degree heat.