It could be much worse for D.C. residents hit hard by soaring prices at the gas pump: The D.C. Public Service Commission has yet to rule on a pair of utility rate hikes proposed a year ago.
Both Washington Gas and Pepco went to the commission, the District’s utility regulator, in late 2006 to request rate increases.
“We’re simply waiting for them to make a decision,” said Robert Dobkin, Pepco spokesman. “The rates are what they are until they change.”
Pepco is seeking a 7.79 percent increase for power distribution, which would raise the average electric bill by about $6 a month for the company’s 235,000 clients. Washington Gas is looking for a 7.7 percent boost, which would add roughly $8.47 per month to the average residential heating bill for its 151,000 natural gas customers.
The Pepco proposal went through a series of hearings before the commission over the summer. The bid was opposed by the Office of the People’s Counsel, which represents D.C. residents in rate cases, in addition to numerous community groups.
The commission also received a few letters of support for Pepco from the community.
Ward 3 D.C. Councilwoman Mary Cheh weighed in Dec. 5, urging the commission to rule either way.
“I am concerned that the case has dragged on longer than it need go, leaving many parties across the city in limbo as we await the Commission’s decision,” Cheh wrote in a letter to Commission Chair Agnes Yates.
A decision in the Washington Gas matter will have to wait until at least 2008. The commission this week postponed evidentiary hearings after the People’s Counsel claimed it had run out of money to argue against the increase.
Washington Gas had previously been fined $350,000 by the commission for failing to turn over documents tied to the case, which led to a four-month delay in the proceeding.
By the numbers
Pepco is seeking a 7.79 percent increase for power distribution, which would raise the average electric bill by about $6 a month for the company’s 235,000 clients. Washington Gas is looking for a 7.7 percent boost, which would add roughly $8.47 per month to the average residential heating bill for its 151,000 natural gas customers.
