WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) — District of Columbia Attorney General Karl A. Racine announced Feb. 7 that he has filed a brief in the D.C. District Court of Appeals challenging the District’s Public Service Commission (PSC) decision to allow a merger between Exelon and Pepco Holdings Inc. on terms of the PSC’s choosing.
In his brief, Racine urges the court to mandate the merger must go through on Racine’s terms instead. These terms had been negotiated by the district, the Office of People’s Counsel, D.C. Water, and the Apartment and Building Association of Metropolitan Washington, along with several other parties. Racine believes his office’s proposed agreement would promote the public interest.
“Rather than accepting this carefully negotiated and balanced settlement agreement that we believe provided maximum benefits to district residents, the PSC proposed alternative terms for the merger against the opposition of the district and most parties involved,” Racine said. “The agreement that the mayor, our office, and the Office of the People’s Counsel helped broker was the product of an arduous negotiation process with the public interest in mind, but the PSC’s actions denied district residents the benefits of that process.”