Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO): История и деятельность

American energy company

The Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO) is an American utility company that supplies electric power to the city of Washington, D. C., and to surrounding communities in Maryland. It is owned by Exelon. The company's current trademarked slogan is "Your life. Plugged in." Its former slogan was "We're connected to you by more than power lines." Pepco's bulk transmission system consists of transmission lines operating at 115 kV, 138kV, 230 kV and 500 kV. Pepco has interconnections with Potomac Edison (230kV, 500kV), Baltimore Gas and Electric (500kV, 230kV, 115kV), and Dominion Virginia Power (500kV, 230kV).

The company's predecessor, Potomac Electric Co., was organized in 1891 to provide street lighting and streetcar power in Georgetown and Northwest D. C. After suffering during the Panic of 1893, the company filed bankruptcy and, on November 6, 1895, was acquired by Oscar T. Crosby and Charles A. Lieb for $5,500. A years long legal battle ensued, culminating in a Supreme Court decision upholding the order. As a result, Pepco's stock was distributed to Washington Railway's shareholders in December 1947, making Pepco an independent, publicly traded company. In 1954, revenue exceeded $50 million for the first time. In September 1995, the company announced a merger with Baltimore Gas & Electric; however, the merger was cancelled in December 1997. In 2001, Pepco agreed to acquire Conectiv Power Delivery, the parent company of Delmarva Power and Atlantic City Electric, for $2.2 billion. The purchase was completed in 2002, with Pepco and Conectiv becoming subsidiaries of a newly formed holding company, Pepco Holdings. In 2003, Pepco's investment subsidiary, Potomac Capital Investment, was transferred to Pepco Holdings. In 2014, Pepco Holdings agreed to be acquired by Exelon for $6.8 billion. The deal faced opposition from Pepco customers and from officials in Washington and Maryland, but was ultimately approved. The acquisition was completed on March 23, 2016, making Pepco a subsidiary of Exelon.

In 2011, Business Insider named the company first on its list of "The 19 Most Hated Companies In America" based on its American Customer Satisfaction Index rating.

An investigation by The Washington Post in 2010 faulted Pepco for poor reliability. The report noted that the company's performance had slipped since 2005, comparing poorly to other major utilities in the frequency and duration of power outages. Thousands of people lost power for as many as five days after only 5–8 inches of heavy wet snow. During the June 2012 North American derecho, more than half of the customers in Montgomery County, Maryland lost electric power. The company was criticized for being slow to restore power and for charging its customers for the power outage.

The company's Benning Road Power Plant produced air pollution that negatively affected neighboring communities. In 2017, the company agreed to pay regulators $1.6 million for violations of the Clean Water Act. In October 2023, Pepco agreed to pay $47 million in costs and $10 million in penalties to D. C. for decades of discharging toxic chemicals in the city, affecting the Anacostia River and other areas.

In March 2022, the D. C. Office of the Attorney General and the Office of the People’s Counsel alleged Pepco was committing a "pattern of systemic violations" in carrying out community solar panel installations. According to the complaint, Pepco has botched its handling of community solar projects in numerous ways. The utility is undercounting solar energy generation at community solar projects, according to the filing, and is “systematically failing” to provide accurate and timely solar credits to customers.