Exelon seeks customer relief through FERC Complaint

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Exelon Corporation has filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in an effort to change the way the cost of energy is determined for its customers, which include Delmarva Power.

This amounts to a challenge to what is being considered by the company as an outdated method used to determine energy costs. Electricity for Cecil County comes from the PJM Grid. Currently the cost per kilowatt hour is decided by forecasting what the cost will be in three years.

What Maryland can do now, according to the Exelon complaint, is change the contract to current trends, not future. Exelon contends this would bring meaningful savings to customers.

PJM is a regional power supplier for Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland. In Maryland there are 275 operational generation plants, which includes residential solar. Another 265 are in the planning stage along with nine expansions.

“Customers are facing a real affordability challenge, and we are stepping up through The Exelon Promise to advocate practical solutions to keep their bills as low as possible,” said Colette Honorable, Exelon executive vice president, chief legal officer, compliance and corporate secretary. “PJM’s recognition that its markets need to evolve is an important step, but customers cannot afford to wait for a full package of changes to be developed. Exelon is taking this action at FERC to push for a narrow change that can meaningfully contribute to producing capacity market prices that reflect actual market conditions and better protect customers from unreasonable costs.”

Meanwhile, the National Consumer Law Center reports that low-income customers in the state are more than $42 million in arrearages, while the state’s Office of Home Energy Programs makes changes to how it disburses its energy assistance to those in need. However, enrollment has been low.

“There is still more that Maryland can do to help the large number of families burdened with utility debt,” said Olivia Wein, senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center. “Maryland should keep building on its work to improve affordability program enrollment and ensure that the most under-resourced households are not left behind.”