I’m writing today above all to thank you. Why? Because, if you’ve taken action with CCAN or our allies in the Power DC coalition over the past year and a half, then you’ve been part of one of the fiercest and most effective grassroots fights against a utility merger in U.S. history.
It’s true: The D.C. Public Service Commission handed down a stunning 2-1 decision on March 23rd to greenlight Chicago-based utility Exelon’s takeover of Pepco. This decision defied the indisputable facts that Exelon’s business model relies on raising our rates and suppressing the growth of affordable clean energy. This decision defied popular will. In fact, thanks in part to your action, Exelon’s deal had lost the support of every other major party from the Mayor to the People’s Counsel.
But this is also true: Together, the Power DC coalition — including two dozen citizens’ organizations, hundreds of ordinary citizens like you, and dozens of ANC allies spanning every ward of the District — put the largest utility merger ever proposed on the ropes for two years.
Practically everyone thought this merger was a slam dunk from the outset. But our grassroots movement made it anything but. Squaring off against a volunteer-powered coalition on a shoestring budget, Exelon and Pepco were forced to spend millions to secure a final result, including conditions they would have never offered otherwise.
You can bet that legal challenges to the Public Service Commission’s decision in D.C. are coming, just as CCAN continues to partner with the Sierra Club and Earthjustice to appeal Maryland’s merger approval.
Whatever the final outcome in the courts, we will not stand down in the face of Exelon. Our grassroots coalition has many more fights to win together.
We are working with our allies to set an ambitious climate agenda in the days and weeks ahead — an agenda that will likely include a major legislative expansion of the District’s clean electricity mandate, followed by a progressive carbon fee on all fossil fuels.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to move past this merger by supporting some of the nation’s most aggressive, home-grown clean energy and climate policies.
We are bigger than Exelon. And I can’t wait to see what we will achieve together next.