Exelon says energy costs are “out of control.” So Exelon unveiled “The Exelon Promise” — a $60 million Customer Relief Fund and a pledge to fight for long-term reforms.
While $60 million sounds like a lot of money, Exelon has requested and received billions in new rate increases across its utility companies. Over the last four years, Exelon’s monopoly utilities have sought roughly nine major rate proceedings across Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia. These were not minor adjustments. They were large, formal filings seeking hundreds of millions, and in some cases billions, in additional utility revenue. Revenue that forces ratepayers to bear the cost.
ComEd pursued a multi-year grid plan totaling $2 billion in proposed spending.
PECO sought nearly $464 million in electric increases and $111 million in gas.
BGE requested over $600 million in its most recent multi-year plan.
Pepco, Delmarva, and Atlantic City Electric all filed their own substantial base rate or multi-year increases.
Regulators reduced many of those requests. But hundreds of millions in new annual revenue were still approved. Those increases are not one-time charges. They compound. They become part of the permanent charges that roughly 11 million customers pay every month.
Meanwhile, utilities routinely seek delivery rate hikes that dwarf that number many times over, and those increases recur every year. The relief fund is finite and temporary. The rate increases are permanent.
Delivery rates are set through rate cases where utilities recover capital spending plus a guaranteed return on equity. Under the regulated monopoly model, utilities earn more when they spend more. Every new substation, grid modernization program, resiliency upgrade, and infrastructure expansion goes into the rate base. Once approved, customers pay for decades, and shareholders enjoy long-term returns. It is a system that rewards spending growth.
Now, Exelon is advocating for a policy shift that would allow regulated utilities to build and own new generation. They argue that utility-owned generation would stabilize markets and reduce volatility. In practice, it would also further expand the regulated rate base and shift the investment risk from private generators to captive ratepayers.
That debate over cost allocation is important. But it does not change the broader reality that across its six utilities, Exelon has repeatedly sought major increases in regulated delivery revenue during the same period it now describes as a cost crisis. In fact, just last week, they announced their intention to spend an additional $41.3 billion in grid infrastructure upgrades. That guarantees a return on equity (shareholder earnings) north of $4 billion over the next five years.
Energy costs are out of control, but the solution is not more capital spending, more rate base, and more guaranteed returns. Higher rates, paired with a one-time relief fund that represents a fraction of one percent of annual revenues and relief for even fewer ratepayers, is the exact opposite direction for making energy more affordable.
Customers cannot afford Exelon’s grab for more monopoly control over our power. We need a system that stops rewarding perpetual expansion at their expense. Until that changes, energy bills will only continue to go up, and Exelon shareholders will continue to enjoy record profits.
