DC COPE Report: Consumer Advocates Demand DC Council Vote on PSC Nominee

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)With District consumers facing major electricity and telephone rate increase requests, dozens of community, labor and faith leaders showed up in front of the John A. Wilson Building yesterday to demand that the DC City Council vote on Elizabeth “Betty” Noel’s nomination to the 3-member Public Service Commission (PSC), which regulates the city’s utilities. Noel, the former People’s Counsel, is being opposed by Pepco and other utilities. “The cost of living [in DC] is spiraling, fed in large part by exorbitant utility costs,” said Jim McGrath (above at right) of the DC Tenants’ Advocacy Coalition (TENAC). DC Consumer Utility Board Chairman Herb Harris (BLE/Teamsters) called the City Council’s failure to move on Noel’s six-month-old nomination “abominable” and “a disgrace.” Saying that Noel has “undergone more scrutiny than a nominee to the US Supreme Court” Metro Council President Jos Williams said she was “knowledgeable, capable and interested in ensuring that public utilities serve the public good” and called on Councilmember Yvette Alexander (at left in pink scarf) to bring the nomination to a vote immediately. Alexander, who arrived in the middle of the press conference, promised action “before the end of this month,” but members of the crowd pressed Alexander on why she had not yet brought Noel’s nomination to a vote, questioning her and other Councilmembers’ relationships with PEPCO, and Alexander soon hurried into the Wilson Building. “Let’s tell this Council to get with it and confirm now!” said McGrath as the group headed inside to lobby Councilmembers. - report/photos by Julia Kann

For more, check out Pete Tucker's report on TheFightBack.com.