Community members rallied with chalk art and chants outside of D.C. Public Service Commission, urging regulators to reject Washington Gas’s costly Project Pipes proposal
WASHINGTON, D.C. — To urge the D.C. Public Service Commission (PSC) to reject Washington Gas’s latest attempted cash grab of $215 million from customers for its gas pipeline replacement program, a coalition of climate, housing, and interfaith advocates rallied today outside the D.C. Public Service Commission. As part of the rally, community members created colorful chalk art messages, calling on the PSC to prioritize the needs of D.C. residents over corporate interests and halt Washington Gas’s rate hikes and reckless pipeline expansion.
Watch the recorded full stream on Instagram HERE.
“At a time when D.C. residents are struggling to make ends meet, Washington Gas wants to pour more than $215 million of customer money into tearing up D.C. streets and replacing methane gas pipelines,” said Claire Mills, D.C. Campaigns Manager at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “Despite millions spent already, dangerous gas leaks are still rampant across the District. The Public Service Commission now has a choice: it can either side with Washington Gas’s corporate greed or champion everyday D.C. residents by putting an end to reckless, wasteful spending on methane pipelines.”
Washington Gas’s pipeline replacement program, projected to cost ratepayers $12 billion, has failed to eliminate leaks and protect public safety. The utility’s own data shows that gas leak reports have risen as much as 25% from 2020 to 2024, with Washington Gas even taking more than six hours to respond to a gas odor complaint in October 2024. Rally participants called on the Commission to put D.C. families first, rejecting what advocates describe as another corporate cash grab that fuels profit while putting public health and safety at risk.
“Every fraction of a degree of warming that we can avert matters: it is a difference, in orders of magnitude, of countless human and nonhuman lives,” said Hannah, an organizer with Extinction Rebellion DC. With a federal government increasingly intent on sending us over a climate cliff, it is more important than ever to demand action at the local level. The PSC’s decision can make or break whether DC is a city that meets our climate goals. We are in a climate emergency — we simply can’t afford to bail out fossil fuel companies while the rest of us go down with the ship.”
Advocates say Washington Gas’s profit-driven business model incentivizes unnecessary pipeline replacement, piling costs and fees onto customers. Meanwhile, residents are burdened with higher energy bills that could soon skyrocket as the cost of methane gas is expected to nearly double in 2026, according to a recent projection by Morgan Stanley. One in seven D.C. gas users is currently behind on their energy bills as Washington Gas seeks another 12% gas rate hike.
“At a moment when tens of thousands of D.C. residents are behind on their energy bills, the prospect of handing another several hundred million dollars of ratepayers funds to an investor-owned utility to build fossil fuel infrastructure is galling,” said Matt Sehrsweeney, Co-Chair at We Power DC. “D.C. needs utilities that work for and are accountable to the people of D.C. instead of a handful of wealthy investors, and we need a Public Service Commission that actually defends our interests.”
“Gas leaks, under the streets and in our homes,” said Barbara Briggs, Convener at Beyond Gas DC. “There is no question that we are breathing health-harming methane, benzene (which is highly carcinogenic), and other health-harming components of gas every day. We are also breathing in the pollutants created by burning gas, including nitrogen dioxide, which contributes to asthma, COPD, and lung disease, and may affect children’s cognitive development. Our families’ health is one more compelling reason we should accelerate D.C.’s transition off the dangerous and outdated use of gas combustion in our buildings and move to renewable, non-combustion energy sources, which are safer and far healthier.”
The rally also drew attention to Washington Gas’s deceptive tactics to keep customer bills high and lock D.C. residents into expensive, polluting fossil fuels for decades to come. While the utility attacks D.C.’s net-zero building standards, it simultaneously launched a greenwashing marketing campaign that positions itself as a champion of net-zero energy homes. Advocates urge the PSC to halt reckless pipeline expansions, reject the rate hike, and stand up to corporate greed.
“The truth is, fuel-burning is not consistent with healthy homes for DC residents or for doing our part to preserve a livable climate,” says Joelle Novey with Interfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NoVA). “We’re delighted to be working in Montgomery County with Washington Gas on a pilot neighborhood geothermal project, and we invite them to follow our faith communities’ lead by shifting rapidly to get D.C. neighborhoods, too, to be fully electrified and powered by heat pumps and clean energy.”
Watch the recorded full stream on Instagram HERE.
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