The Maryland Attorney General’s Office is investigating the legal ramifications of creating a government-run utility, at the behest of Montgomery County Council members eager to dump Pepco and run a power company of their own.
“We will have a report back in a couple weeks to analyze legal precedents to a public power company,” Councilman Roger Berliner, D-Bethesda, said Tuesday.
Council members said they feel powerless over Pepco and have little faith that the Public Service Commission — the state agency that regulates Pepco — will whip the company into shape any time soon.
A utility company run by public officials would be more accountable than Pepco, said Marc Elrich, D-at Large.
“An entity created by us would be accountable,” he said. “We wouldn’t have anybody to hide behind.”
But Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett said it would be “too difficult and too costly” to create a government-run utility.
“Even if [the attorney general] would come back and say you can do it, it would be a regulatory and financial challenge to get done,” Leggett said.
