IEEFA’s new report on the likely impact on District of Columbia ratepayers of an Exelon Corp. acquisition of Pepco Holdings gets considerable press today.
Thomas Heath of the Washington Post, writing under the headline “District Should Reject Exelon-Pepco Merger, Energy Think Tank Says,” notes that the deal “would create a single dominant electricity provider in the Mid-Atlantic.”
Both the Post and the Washington Business Journal (in an article by Bob Niedt), have Myra Oppel, a Pepco spokesman, promising in a statement that Pepco under Excelon ownership would not raise rates.
The news and culture blog dcist.com, says the IEEFA research illuminates what might be “a new frontrunner for the Most Contentious Debate in D.C.” The report is covered, too, in an in-depth article this afternoon by SNL Energy’s Amy Poszywak.
Excerpts from Poszywak’s piece:
- “‘There is a fine line between using the regulatory process for re-establishing solvency and covering up market failure,’” Tom Sanzillo, IEEFA’s director of finance and one of the report’s authors, said in a Jan. 21 interview. “‘In this instance, we see it very close to essentially a bailout. It’s a bailout of Exelon’s merchant plants that have been having a hard time, and we get that, but then where are the benefits that are meaningful to [Pepco customers]?’”
- “Exelon on Jan. 21 said the report contains a number of misguided criticisms. Customer rates, Exelon spokesman Paul Adams said in an email, will not increase as a result of the deal, and if anything, efficiencies created by the merger will generate cost savings that will be passed onto customers.”
- “Adams also said Exelon and Pepco share an unwavering commitment to advancing energy efficiency and clean energy including solar, wind, hydro and nuclear power.”
Full article (subscription required).
