Dive Brief:

• Maryland customers of Pepco this week received the first of a pair of $50 bill credits associated with the utility's decision to merge with Exelon, automatically applied to household accounts as part of a wider package of benefits.
• The utility said other benefits for Maryland customers include $31.5 million for energy efficiency, including 20% for low-income customers, and more than $14 million to establish a Green Energy Fund to stimulate investment in sustainable solutions.
• Last month regulators in Washington, D.C., signed off on the merger after months of debate. The D.C. Public Service Commission – the last holdout to approve the deal – voted  2-1 in favor of the $6.8 billion merger.
• The utility said information about bill credits for Pepco customers who live in Washington, as well as for Delmarva Power and Atlantic City Electric customers, will be forthcoming. 

Dive Insight:

Maryland regulators approved the Pepco-Exelon almost a year ago, making Exelon the largest utility in the nation, but the deal was held up in D.C. where officials wanted to ensure the combined utility would focus on clean energy. Regulators finally signed off on the deal in March, and so bill credits only this week began trickling down to consumers.

In Maryland, consumers this week received the first of two $50 credits, with the second one coming next year.

“I am pleased that our valued customers are beginning to realize the important benefits of the merger," Donna Cooper, Pepco region president, said in a statement. “This is only the beginning of the direct benefits that our customers will receive which is in the millions of dollars."

Cooper added that in addition to funding residential customer credits, the utility is also investing tens of millions of dollars for energy efficiency, "with a defined emphasis on customers who are most in need." She said Pepco had set new higher reliability requirements and will continue to provide over $6 million over the next 10 years in charitable contributions to local nonprofits.

Other merger benefits for Pepco customers in Maryland include more than $31 million for efficiency, $14.4 million to establish a Green Energy Fund, $5 million worth of loans for development of renewable energy in Montgomery County, Md., pilot microgrid projects in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, and $1.2 million to Prince George’s County and $1.7 million to Montgomery County for workforce development. 

The deal also includes debt forgiveness for residential customers with debts more than two years old, and the development of a 10 MW of solar generation project in Pepco Maryland's service territory, split evenly between Prince George’s and Montgomery counties.