As repairs dragged on in one of D.C.'s largest office buildings, the D.C. government spent more than $1 million on a team of contractors to manually watch for fire.
It was supposed to be temporary. Taxpayers ended up footing the bill for almost a year.
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Read on for more information, including a report from the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment. Mayor Muriel Bowser is proposing legislation to enhance consumer protections for residential retail energy customers, and mayoral candidates have championed stringent retail market oversight.
In contrast to D.C., Maryland’s Public Services Commission has initiated enforcement actions against predatory third-party suppliers. Last year, it ordered SmartEnergy—one of the companies on Selena’s account—to refund $6.5 million to more than 32,000 customers.
Disputed charges. Mounting debt. Chaotic electricity bills.
D.C.'s deregulated energy market has left some residential customers vulnerable to excessive charges and predatory practices. In @wcp.bsky.social, Suzie Amanuel reports on the third-party power market:
spotlightdc.org/third-party-...
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This unauthorized enrollment of consumers into high-interest energy contracts is so common that it has a name: “slamming.”
One customer named Selena was promised that if she switched providers, her Pepco bill would go down.
Instead, her bills spiked. "I thought Pepco had gone crazy," Selena said. At one point, 15 different unknown energy suppliers appeared on her bill.