For Immediate Release
Contact
Sean Matthews
202-862-2680 (media hotline)
WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 2, 2021) – Pepco has proposed a suite of energy efficiency programs that will provide residents and businesses across the District of Columbia with the tools they need to take control of their energy usage and save money. In a proposal filed with the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia (PSC), the company outlined its plans to provide customers with no-cost energy assessments, an array of incentives for energy efficiency upgrades, rebates on energy-efficient products and a variety of other offerings to help them use less energy and to help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the District.
"Our energy efficiency program offering is essential to helping customers use even less energy and to support the District's climate and clean energy goals," said Donna Cooper, Pepco region president. "We are pleased to partner with the District Department of Energy and the Environment (DOEE), DC Sustainable Energy Utility (DCSEU) and stakeholders across the District to help provide energy saving solutions to help our customers save money, reduce their carbon footprint and drive a clean energy future and healthier neighborhoods and communities for all District residents, equitably and inclusively."
In total, Pepco's proposed programs for the District are expected to result in more than $388 million and nearly 2.4 million megawatt-hours in energy savings over the lifetime of the measures. The proposed programs include offerings for nearly all customers, including businesses, nonprofits, faith-based organizations, renters, homeowners, single-family homes and multifamily buildings, as well as offerings dedicated to households with limited incomes. Whether customers are just getting started or are ready for extensive energy savings, the company has proposed a variety of offerings to meet customers' needs. These offerings are designed to complement existing programs offered by the DCSEU to help customers use even less energy and to further support GHG emission reduction in the District.
"For the past 10 years, the DCSEU's energy efficiency and renewable energy programs have helped create more than $1.2 billion in lifetime energy cost savings for District residents and businesses and prevented more than 6.2 million metric tons of lifetime carbon emissions," said Ted Trabue, managing director of the DCSEU. "While we are incredibly proud of these achievements, we also recognize that there is more work to do in order to achieve the District's critical climate and clean energy goals. We look forward to collaborating with Pepco to offer complementary programs and services that help residents, businesses, and the District as a whole reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions."
Energy efficiency programs also create significant economic benefits. Pepco's programs are expected to result in more than 3,360 jobs across the District. In addition, participating businesses can reduce their operating costs by lowering their energy bills.
As part of its broader commitment to ensure all customers have fair and equitable access to affordable solutions and the benefits of new energy services, Pepco designed nearly one-third of its proposed offerings to meet the needs of households with limited incomes. Offerings include rebates for income-qualified customers on specific products and no-cost home energy checkups.
Pepco's proposed programs will also improve air quality in the District. By significantly reducing customer energy demands, the programs will reduce local air pollution and improve the health of communities—especially under-resourced communities, where residents disproportionately suffer the effects of poor air quality. The programs are expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 160,000 metric tons through their lifetime — the equivalent of removing nearly 40,000 cars from the road for one year.
The new suite of programs will build on the company's current energy efficiency offerings for customers in Maryland, where Pepco has managed an award-winning suite of residential, commercial and industrial energy efficiency programs that have been recognized six times by EPA as ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year. These programs have saved Pepco Maryland customers more than $3 billion.
Based on the proposal filed today with the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia, the typical residential customer would see a 23-cent increase on their monthly bill in the first year of the programs, and a total $1.27 increase by the third year of the programs. These bill increases will not impact customers who participate in the Residential Aid Discount program. Customers who participate in the energy efficiency programs are expected to see a net savings on their energy bills. The company's cost-benefit analyses show that the programs' costs will be more than offset by savings and benefits for customers gained through bill savings for participating customers, economic growth and reduced pollution – for every dollar we invest in energy efficiency programs, our customers will receive nearly $3.28 in benefits.
Pepco's Energy Efficiency program filing builds on Pepco DC's Climate Change Commitment that was announced last year and outlines the central role the company will play in enabling the District's roadmap toward electrification, clean energy, and energy reduction through a balanced portfolio that will help ensure an equitable and inclusive energy system that maintains safe, reliable and affordable service for the company's 312,000 customers in the District. The company also recently filed its Climate Solutions Plan with the PSC, outlining the high-level approach the company proposes to implement to advance a smarter, stronger and cleaner energy system and to help the District achieve its leading climate goals, codified in the Clean Energy DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2018.
To learn more about Pepco, visit The Source, our online newsroom. Find additional information by visiting pepco.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/pepcoconnect and on Twitter at twitter.com/pepcoconnect. Pepco's mobile app is available at pepco.com/mobileapp.