The Office of People’s Counsel (OPC) in Maryland asked the state’s Public Service Commission to reject Washington Gas’s rate increase, preferring instead to reduce rather than increase rates.
OPC also called Washington Gas’s five-year plan to replace infrastructure “unreasonable and imprudent.” On Tuesday, OPC wrote in a filing that the Public Service Commission should reject this request.
OPC is a state agency that represents Maryland’s residential electric, natural gas, telecommunications, private water and some transportation consumers before the Public Service Commission, federal regulatory agencies and courts.
In the matter of a rate increase, OPC stated that the utility added $58 million in new gas distribution infrastructure, noting, “That spending is driving a 19% increase in distribution charges the utility is requesting in the rate case.”
Washington Gas requested a rate increase in May. If approved, the utility would receive $28.4 million in additional revenue.
OPC’s most recent filing came in response to Washington Gas’s five-year plan to use funds from the Strategic Infrastructure Development and Enhancement (STRIDE) law to replace gas infrastructure.
According to OPC, Washington Gas’s proposal does not account for changing technologies and climate policies, “but rather presents the same approach the utility has used for more than ten years—all while continuing to operate over budget and underperforming.”
Said David S. Lapp, People’s counsel, in a statement, “Times are changing, and Washington Gas’s strategies for addressing its legacy pipes should change too. The company’s proposal makes no attempt to address the evolution in State policy and the changing long-term economic prospects of the gas industry.”
.@washingtongas's request to the @MarylandPSC for a rate increase of $49.4 million per year should be rejected, @OpcMd said in testimony filed Friday with the PSC. Instead, the utility’s rates should be slightly reduced, OPC said. Read OPC's press release: https://t.co/hAlUuDs1ak pic.twitter.com/LL2C4PNSBI
— Maryland Office of People's Counsel (@OpcMd) August 29, 2023
