Delmarva Power Files Plan with the Maryland PSC Outlining Three-Year System Modernization and Enhancement Strategy to Support Continued Reliable Energy Service for Customers, while Taking Important Steps to Reduce Future Customer Bill Impacts

Multi-year proposal includes both broad and targeted system enhancements, continued support for climate solutions and improvements to systems to support the further enhancement of the customer experience.

SALISBURY, MD (May 19, 2022) – Delmarva Power customers in Maryland will continue to see improvements in their electric service reliability and in the quality of the services they receive due to a multi-year system investment and customer experience improvement plan filed today with the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC). The multi-year plan, the first to be filed by Delmarva Power and the third of its kind in the state of Maryland, outlines the company’s plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the local energy grid and other customer experience improvements during the years 2023-2025, while taking steps to reduce the impact of these efforts on customer bills. The multi-year plan approach provides customers with a forward look at the company’s reliability and other customer experience enhancement efforts, while also providing the information that can help customers plan for related adjustments on future bills.

As part of the plan, Delmarva Power will accelerate certain tax benefits to offset a proposed energy delivery rate change by 50 percent in 2023 and 25 percent in 2024 to support its customers who are continuing to rebound from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The multi-year plan enables Delmarva Power to spread costs associated with the company’s planned efforts across several years, providing customers the opportunity to plan for future adjustments to their energy bill.

“We understand our customers are still facing the challenges of recovering from the pandemic while also dealing with the very real negative impacts of inflation and rising prices for the products and services they are using each day,” said Tyler Anthony, president and CEO of Pepco Holdings, which includes Delmarva Power. “This multi-year plan approach provides us the ability to help our customers by reducing the cost impact of these energy investments, while at the same time we can continue to ensure we meet our customer’s expectations of us, including providing cost saving energy efficiency programs that help customers manage their energy usage. This proposed plan will make the investments in the system that are necessary to prepare the local energy grid for increasingly severe weather as well as support the interconnection of additional clean energy resources, such as solar, all while keeping equity and customer affordability front and center.”

Over the three-years of the plan, Delmarva Power will continue to support its local communities with grants and other financial and volunteer support of local nonprofits, including those serving limited-income customers with pandemic relief, emergency response organizations and community cultural organizations. Contributions to local nonprofits are made using shareholder dollars and are not reflected in customer bills.

Delmarva Power’s multi-year plan includes hundreds of projects and maintenance programs from 2023 to 2025 that are specifically targeted at reinforcing the local energy grid, improving infrastructure and delivering reliable energy service for customers. Specifically, the plan includes projects focused on:

Fortifying the local energy grid through the installation of more modernized equipment, including equipment that can be remotely operated or automatically operates to isolate damage on the local energy grid.
Expanding system redundancy and interconnection by connecting adjacent circuits, or looping circuits, to provide alternate energy “feeds” for customers.
Installing smarter, automated energy equipment like reclosers and other automated switches and devices that automatically detect system issues or damage and keep the power flowing for customers.
Leveraging the smart grid as a platform to support the expanded interconnection of distributed clean energy resources, like solar and battery storage, which can provide power back onto the grid during times of outage.
Replacement and upgrading of equipment as part of the company’s ongoing inspection and maintenance programs and continuing to perform planned and targeted vegetation management. This work builds on Delmarva Power’s improvements to the local energy grid that have reduced the frequency of power outages by 30 percent since 2017 and have reduced the duration of power outages by 51 percent during the same period. In 2021, for the second year in a row, Delmarva Power customers in Maryland experienced the lowest frequency of electric outages, on average, in the company’s history. “Investments in the local energy grid means significant improvements in the quality of service we are providing our customers,” added Anthony. “From powering the farms that are providing the food on our tables to keeping the lights bright and the rides going in our beach communities during the heat of summer, the work in this plan will help us to power the lives of our customers and communities we are privileged to serve.”

Delmarva Power also continues to build out its EVsmart program, helping to facilitate the transition toward zero emission vehicles and an electrified transportation system. EVsmart has already powered up more than 69 new electric vehicle (EV) public charging stations in Maryland, and provides customers with rebates, tools and information on how to go electric. Delmarva Power plans to continue to build out the EVsmart program with an extensive EV charging network across the Eastern Shore, providing drivers charging flexibility—fueled by 100 percent carbon-free energy.

Based on the company’s multi-year plan, which includes the reductions made in part by the acceleration of certain tax benefits, the typical residential customer using 1,004 kilowatt hours per month would experience a 2.11 percent, or $3.42 upward adjustment in their total bill in 2023, a 2.11 percent, or $3.50, upward adjustment in 2024 and a 2.58 percent, or $4.37, upward adjustment in 2025.

Ensuring affordability and accessibility to safe and reliable energy service is Delmarva Power’s top priority. The company has worked with tens of thousands of customers through the pandemic to secure energy assistance and other support to help keep service connected for customers. In 2021 alone, Delmarva Power helped its Maryland customers secure more than $27.5 million in energy assistance. Customers who are having challenges with paying their energy bill are encouraged to learn more about the company’s programs and support at delmarva.com/EnergyAssistance or by calling 800-375-7117.