Washington Gas’s infrastructure replacement plan violates the law and would drive rate increases, OPC tells regulators
BALTIMORE – To implement the Next Generation Energy Act (“NGEA”) and curb increasingly unaffordable rate increases, the Public Service Commission should require Washington Gas to immediately consider lower-cost alternatives to the utility’s plans for accelerated gas infrastructure replacement—and not wait three years from now, the Office of People’s Counsel said in a filing last week with the Commission.
“Washington Gas wants to continue its replacement program on a business-as-usual basis, as though the legislature took no action last year,” said Maryland People’s Counsel David S. Lapp. “But the legislature enacted the NGEA to put guardrails on accelerated gas infrastructure spending. The Commission should not allow Washington Gas to ignore the law and the legislature’s intent. It must require the utility to evaluate lower-cost alternatives now to curb avoidable rate increases.”
Washington Gas’s filing under Maryland’s STRIDE statute—which allows gas utilities to recover gas infrastructure replacement spending on an expedited basis before it is reviewed for prudency—asks the Commission to accept at face value conclusory statements that the company has met the NGEA’s requirements and that alternatives to replacement are not cost-effective, OPC points out. “But Washington Gas does not provide a shred of actual data or analysis demonstrating that the company’s current STRIDE program conforms with the NGEA’s amendments to the STRIDE law,” OPC’s comments state.
OPC’s comments ask the Commission to reject Washington Gas’s effort to ignore the NGEA’s amendments. Rather, OPC argues, if the utility wants to continue reaping the financial benefits of STRIDE, the Commission should require the utility to perform additional analyses on costs, alternatives, and risks to demonstrate NGEA compliance.
Washington Gas’s filing responded to a Commission order requiring the company to detail how its third STRIDE plan—a five-year plan that ends in 2028—complies with the NGEA, which took effect on June 1, 2025. OPC’s 2025 analysis shows Washington Gas’s third plan will cost customers about $330 million—without accounting for what customers pay for the utility’s profit and taxes, which will add hundreds of millions of dollars to customer costs. Completion of Washington Gas’s STRIDE program, under business-as-usual, will involve three more five-year plans through 2043 with a total initial investment of $3.9 billion.
In addition to its order concerning NGEA compliance, the Commission issued an order that restricts Washington Gas’s STRIDE work in 2026 to projects that are already “active,” pending the completion of the Commission’s NGEA compliance review. WGL has challenged that order, asking the Commission to allow the company to proceed with a much broader range of projects. OPC opposes the utility’s request.
Washington Gas must make whatever investments are necessary to maintain a safe system, whether or not it receives accelerated cost recovery for those investments under STRIDE, OPC’s comments point out. The Commission should thus reject the utility’s contention that approval of its projects without evaluation under the revised statute are necessary for safety and reliability, OPC said.
The Maryland Office of People’s Counsel is an independent state agency that represents Maryland’s residential consumers of electric, natural gas, telecommunications, private water and certain transportation matters before the Public Service Commission, federal regulatory agencies and the courts.
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