Exelon, Pepco respond to D.C. commission's rejection of merger plan

Exelon Corp. and Pepco Holdings issued a statement on Tuesday after their merger plan was unanimously rejected by the Washington, D.C., Public Service Commission.

The Nuclear Energy Information Service said the bid was rejected because it did not serve the public interest of the area's residents.

"We are disappointed with the commission’s decision and believe it fails to recognize the benefits of the merger to the District of Columbia and its residents and businesses," representatives from the companies said in the statement. "We continue to believe our proposal is in the public interest and provides direct immediate and long-term benefits to customers, enhances reliability and preserves our role as a community partner. We will review our options with respect to this decision and will respond once that process is complete.”

The commission said in a statement that the proposed merger would go in the opposite direction of what it considers to be the goal of public policy in this area, that local power companies should be focused on providing reliable, safe and affordable distribution services to residents and businesses in the area

The Nuclear Energy Information Service said the commission also cited apparent anti-efficiency and anti-renewable-energy practices in Exelon's other service markets, specifically in Illinois.