"Maryland Attorney General opposes Exelon-Pepco merger, urges regulators to reject"

Logo courtesy of Public Citizen Energy ProgramAs reported by UtilityDIVE, the State of Maryland's Attorney General, Brian Frosh (Democrat), has filed a lengthy submission to the Maryland Public Service Commission on behalf of the State of Maryland and the Maryland Energy Administration, expressing strong opposition to the proposed merger of Exelon Nuclear and Pepco.

As reported by UtilityDIVE:

"This merger will harm Maryland customers, offers no tangible, incremental benefits of sufficiently meaningful value, and is not in the public interest," the document's conclusion reads. "Nothing in the filed testimony, or the evidence adduced during lengthy and comprehensive hearings, changes these facts."

Frosh's filing argues that the proposed merger would open Maryland ratepayers up to undue risk, expose them to anti-competitive harms not addressed by the merger application, and threaten the growth of renewables and distributed energy, among other consequences. Frosh also argues that the companies have not presented compelling plans to mitigate the possible harms:

"The proposed acquisition introduces substantial potential harms to Pepco and Delmarva customers and to the State as a whole, which are not subject to meaningful mitigation,” the brief reads.

"DC Consumer Advocate Seeks Delay in Exelon-Pepco Proceedings"

Logo courtesy of Public Citizen Energy ProgramAs reported by RTO Insider, Washington, D.C.'s consumer advocate, the Office of People's Counsel (OPC), has requested a months-long delay from the D.C. Public Service Commission in the Exelon-Pepco merger proceeding, because Exelon's recent filings are a "procedural mess." The OPC was joined in its motion to the D.C. PSC by the Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington.

In addition, the article reports, "the American Antitrust Institute asked the U.S. Department of Justice to block the merger or impose mitigation measures."