The DCPSC is very proud and excited to unveil our new mission statement.
Our new mission is the work product of the DCPSC Transition Team.
The teams worked over several weeks to revise the mission statement to reflect our new mandate, under the Clean Energy DC Omnibus Act, which requires the Commission to consider global climate change and the District's climate policies in our decisions.
The mission of the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia is to serve the public interest by ensuring that financially healthy utility companies provide safe, reliable and quality utility services at reasonable rates for District of Columbia customers, while fostering grid modernization, conservation of natural resources, preservation of environmental quality, and advancement of the District’s climate policy commitments.
The DCPSC is fast becoming known across the nation as what we have been all along — that is a leading regulatory agency, addressing whatever obstacles and challenges may come our way.
The DCPSC held the first meeting of its Advisory Council on Utility Supplier and Workforce Diversity on September 10, 2019. The Advisory Council was formed to provide advice and recommendations on areas related to improving diversity and inclusion within the energy workforce and utility suppliers in the District. The Advisory Council will serve as a communications link between the workforce, companies and the Commissioners by providing recommendations on best practices and driving results on supplier and workforce diversity issues.
The members of the Advisory Council include: Local Government Agencies, Colleges and Universities, Utility Contractors, Trade Associations, and Public Utilities, including Pepco, Washington Gas, Verizon and DC Water. Members of the Advisory Council will work on creating a workforce pipeline, developing resources for the next generation of utility leaders, and designing a blueprint of success for diversity across the industry spectrum.
"By bringing almost 50 organizations together today, we have a unique opportunity to expand the pool of small and disadvantaged businesses doing utility work in the District," stated Willie L. Phillips, Chairman. "We want to connect the dots between the opportunities and challenges of modernizing the grid, while ensuring a space for diversity and inclusion in the utility industry."
The DCPSC was proud to host the first Parking Day in Ward 5 on September 20, 2019. This annual event is an opportunity for District residents and businesses to display their creativity, building pop-up parks in curbside parking spaces throughout the District's eight wards.
The DCPSC's Office of Consumer Services (OCS) was on-hand to speak with Ward 5 residents about utility assistance programs and understanding their utility bills. We also enjoyed playing corn hole with residents and gave away coloring books with energy savings tips for kids.
Through the DCPSC's outreach program, OCS offers information tables and presentations about DCPSC consumer initiatives at community festivals and meetings. To schedule an outreach with OCS, call 202-626-5124 or submit a request online.
Each year in July, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) convenes a series of meetings that provide in-depth analysis of policy issues that are relevant to state utility regulators as well as stakeholder groups and federal regulators. This event draws national experts and policymakers to a forum that upholds the tenets of serving the public interest: safe, reliable, and affordable service.
Chairman Willie Phillips spoke on a panel focusing on recent diversity within the utility industry and how organizations are managing challenges and opportunities for supplier and workforce diversity.
“If you look at the most innovative organizations, companies, and cities around the world, they all have one thing in common — they are diverse," stated Chairman Phillips. "Studies show that more diverse businesses have higher earnings. If you value innovation, then you must support diversity.”
The panel also included NARUC President, Commissioner Nick Wagner (Iowa PUC), Paula Glover, CEO, American Association of Blacks in Energy, Anne Pramaggiore, CEO, Exelon Utilities, and Susan Story, CEO, American Water.
Commissioner Greer Gillis was invited to speak at the American Association Blacks in Energy (AABE) Scholarship Awards Luncheon in July. She encouraged recipients to embrace new challenges ahead.
The purposes of AABE is to serve as a resource for policy discussion of the economic, social and political impact of environmental and energy policies on African Americans and other people of color.
AABE also encourages African American students to pursue careers in energy-related fields and provides scholarships for such students.
The DCPSC is doing its part to help achieve the District's clean energy goal of 100% renewable energy by 2032.
The DCPSC reports an increase of 943 solar energy systems and capacity of 11.5 megawatts (MW) from 2018 to 2019. As of July 1, 2019, the DCPSC has certified a total 4,742 solar energy systems located in the District for the District's RPS program. These systems have a combined capacity of about 66 megawatts (MW).
The increase is due in part to the DCPSC's initiative to streamline and automate the certification process through the RPS Portal.
Solar energy systems create renewable energy credits (RECs) that are sold to electricity suppliers with retail sales in the District to help them meet their RPS requirement.
D.C. solar RECs are quite valuable and are worth around $400 per REC, the highest in the Mid-Atlantic region.
So for a system size of four kilowatts, for example, which can produce about five RECs per year, this would result in income of about $2,000 per year.
To keep current on the solar certifications, visit the DCPSC website.
For close to a year, the DCPSC has been working with stakeholders to determine the next steps in grid modernization in the District.
In July, the DCPSC released a Staff Proposed Order that addresses the recommendations from the Final Report submitted by the MEDSIS (Modernizing the Energy Delivery System for Increased Sustainability) Stakeholder Working Group.
The Staff Proposed Order describes the next phases of grid modernization as Power Path DC.
The release of the Staff Proposed Order does not necessarily represent the Commission’s final conclusion.
Each September, the DCPSC along with Commissions from around the country promote Lifeline Awareness Week. This year, Lifeline Awareness week was from September 9th to 13th.
Chairman Phillips appeared on WJLA's Let's Talk Live with reporter Kidd O'Shea to promote Lifeline Awareness Week.
During the week, the Office of Consumer Services encouraged income-eligible residents to enroll in the Lifeline Program and answered questions about eligibility criteria, rules, and annual recertification requirements.
To enroll in the program, residents can contact the DCPSC's Office of Consumer Services at 202-626-5120.
Check out the Chairman interview on Let's Talk Live.
The DCPSC was pleased to have City Administrator Rashad Young give a briefing on DC PLUG. Attendees also included Donna Cooper, Pepco Region President and her staff.
DC PLUG is a program designed to migrate up to 30 of the District’s most vulnerable overhead distribution lines underground, taking place over six to eight years.
DC PLUG is a joint effort between the DCPSC, the Office of the Mayor, the City Council, Pepco, DDOT and other government agencies to improve the electric service reliability and reduce the impact of storm-related outages in the District.
Mayor Bowser hosted a DC PLUG groundbreaking event on June 14, 2019 to kick-off the first phase of construction.
For additional information about DC PLUG visit https://dcpluginfo.com/.
The Commission congratulates Ms. Donna M. Galloway, Consumer Services Manager on being accepted to the D.C. Department of Human Resources’ Certified Public Manager® (CPM) Program.
For 12 months, she will take courses designed to enhance the skills of District Government managers and provide them with the tools to be more effective leaders. Only a select few of District employees were accepted from a competitive pool of candidates.
In partnership with The George Washington University Center for Excellence in Public Leadership, the nationally accredited DCHR CPM program offers District Government managers 300 hours of graduate-level instruction in the areas of leadership, strategic project management, finance management, procurement and other areas of management and leadership.
District managers will also participate in performance improvement project teams where they will apply the project management and methodologies learned in class to real improvement opportunities that agency directors and others identify.
"The District Government’s CPM program is an internationally recognized program and one of the best in its class," said Donna Galloway. "The skills and experiences acquired through the CPM program are transcendent and can be seamlessly integrated into my work here at the Commission. I am both humbled and honored to have been selected."
Supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) aims to build the capacity of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC). The partnership focuses on improving public communication processes, developing a robust dispute resolution process, and strengthening tariff frameworks.
In July, Brian Edmonds, Policy Advisor to Commissioner Beverly traveled to Bangkok, Thailand as a delegate of the NARUC/Bangladesh Partnership Exchange. He gave a presentation on stakeholder engagement and shared the DCPSC experience with regulators from the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission. The delegation also visited the Thailand Office of Energy Regulatory Commission.
The DCPSC is proud to support NARUC's work in Bangladesh by providing strategies and recommendations to help the regulator meet its goals and achieve government mandates.
Our DCPSC staff hosted a Tanzanian Delegation sponsored by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC).
During their visit, DCPSC facilitated a tour of a Pepco Service Center. The delegation also joined field crews to observe overhead line maintenance work.
The DCPSC is proud to offer our talent and expertise to assist countries from around the globe in meeting their energy goals.
The DCPSC joined the Council of the District of Columbia in recognizing October 2nd as Energy Efficiency Day.
We're urging District residents to join us in supporting the District's clean energy goals and moving towards energy efficiency now and in the future.
The District of Columbia recognizes that climate change is real and has already taken steps to reduce GHG emissions and to encourage strategic resiliency planning.
Specifically, the District of Columbia has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 50% below 2006 levels by 2032 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
Furthermore, we will have Renewable Portfolio Standards reaching 100% by 2032. The transition to zero carbon emitting sources goes beyond climate change, by having a direct and significant impact on public health for all District residents.
We fully agree that energy efficiency is the cheapest, quickest, and cleanest way to meet our energy needs and reduce utility bills for residential, business, and industrial customers. Thus, it helps to achieve both sustainability and affordability goals.
Also, check out our list of energy efficiency tips for residents and businesses at on the DCPSC website.
|