Dive Brief:

• Pepco has asked the D.C. Public Service Commission (PSC) to reconsider its transportation electrification plan, including ownership of electrification assets, following an April order that rejected the utility's proposal and called for modifications.
• Pepco's transportation electrification plan had 13 offerings, including residential time-of-use rates and and a range of credits and incentives for charging infrastructure.
• A major sticking point appears to be Pepco's proposal to own and operate dozens of stations; the Office of the People's Counsel (OPC) told regulators the idea is "detrimental to the competitive EV market" envisioned by the city's lawmakers.

Dive Insight:

Consumer advocates in the city say they will continue to oppose the utility's proposal to own charging stations, while Pepco points out that it wants to fill a market void. The company told regulators multiple wards in the city have no public charging stations, or have only a few.

"Major transportation arteries run through these wards. Taxicabs and rideshare vehicles regularly frequent these wards. Fleet vehicles and buses travel through these wards," Pepco told regulators in a filing last week. "To ensure the fluidity of traffic flow and address concerns regarding the District-wide availability of [charging stations], it is critical that the District act now to begin to address this disparity."

Pepco says there are no public EV charging stations deployed in Wards 7 and 8, and only five in Ward 5. The utility had proposed to install and own 35 public neighborhood Level 2 smart charging stations and 20 DC fast chargers, at least 20% of which would be deployed in Wards 5, 7 and 8. The utility also proposed up to 10 Level 2 chargers and two DC fast chargers "to maximize access for taxi and rideshare charging," along with five bus depot and one on-route bus chargers.

District regulators rejected Pepco's proposal to own and operate facilities, but the utility says the city's clean energy legislation "did not express a desire for the competitive market alone to facilitate the deployment" of charging infrastructure.

OPC "stands by its initial and reply comments" on the proposal, and "will be lodging an opposition to the utility's latest application" on May 20, the consumer advocate said in a statement to Utility Dive.

Pepco is "continuing to work with key stakeholders" to support the city "in meeting its aggressive clean energy goals, including the important need for the electrification of the transportation sector, which we know is a leading contributor to carbon emissions across the District," a spokesperson told Utility Dive.