Washington, D.C. · electric utility
Pepco (D.C.) Standard Offer Service & rate increases
Pepco (D.C.) is a Exelon (Pepco Holdings) utility serving the entire District of Columbia. Pepco is the sole electric distribution utility for all of Washington, D.C., and was founded in 1896 to power the city's streetcars. (source)
Standard Offer Service (current rate)
17.63¢/kWh
Effective (current) · last reviewed
Estimate for comparison — confirm the current rate and all charges with Pepco (D.C.) before acting. Not advice.
Next scheduled reset: · Annual (June 1). Every utility's reset calendar →
The worth-it line: for a switch to save at least $10/month at ~750 kWh, a supplier offer must be a fixed rate below 16.30¢/kWh — with no monthly fee and no cancellation fee. Offers between 16.30¢ and 17.63¢ technically "beat" the Standard Offer Service but save too little to justify contract risk. The full math, all utilities →
Pepco (D.C.) customer service & quick facts
The official ways to reach Pepco (D.C.) for outages, billing, and account help. RateWatchdog is independent and not affiliated with Pepco (D.C.) — these are the utility's own channels.
- Pay your bill
- Pay Pepco (D.C.) bill online →
Verified · confirm on Pepco (D.C.)'s siteHere to check if your rate is too high? Jump to the audit ↓
Is your supplier charging more?
Runs entirely in your browser. We never see your numbers.
Where is this on my bill?
On your bill, find the supply rate in ¢/kWh. Your utility's standard rate is the “Standard Offer Service.” If your supplier charges more than that, you're overpaying.
Comparing suppliers against Pepco (D.C.)'s Standard Offer Service?
Washington, D.C.'s official comparison tool is DC Power Connect, run by the D.C. PSC. Washington, D.C.'s official comparison tool lists licensed supplier offers next to Pepco's Standard Offer Service — our guide covers the current Price to Compare benchmark and the fine print to check.
How to use DC Power Connect — the full guide →Is Pepco (D.C.) a monopoly? Can you switch?
For delivery, yes — it's a monopoly. Pepco (D.C.) is the only company that runs the poles and wires to homes in its territory, so you can't pick a different company to deliver your power. That part is a regulated monopoly: Pepco (D.C.), owned by Exelon (Pepco Holdings), can only charge what the DC PSC approves in a rate case.
The electricity itself, though, is open to competition. You can buy your supply from a third-party supplier, or do nothing and stay on Pepco (D.C.)'s default rate — the Standard Offer Service the DC PSC oversees. Switching suppliers doesn't change who delivers your power or who you call during an outage; it only changes the supply line on your bill. And if a supplier is charging more than the Standard Offer Service, you can drop it and return to that regulated rate, usually within one or two billing cycles — no fee to the utility.
How often does Pepco (D.C.)'s power go out?
Federal reliability data, reported by the utility to the U.S. government. SAIDI is the average total time a customer is without power in a year; SAIFI is the average number of outages.
In 2024, including major storms
33 min
without power, across about 0.3 outages
What the average customer actually experienced.
On a typical day (storms excluded)
26 min
without power, across about 0.2 outages
Normal operations, with major event days removed.
Source: U.S. EIA Form EIA-861, 2024 reliability data (IEEE 1366 standard), for Potomac Electric Power Co. eia.gov →
How often does Pepco (D.C.) disconnect customers for nonpayment?
Utilities report this to the federal government. It counts residential service disconnected for unpaid bills. A high rate isn't proof of wrongdoing — it's shaped by local poverty, climate, and how strong a state's shutoff-protection rules are, as much as by the utility itself.
Disconnections in 2024
15,623
times Pepco (D.C.) disconnected residential customers for nonpayment
Per 100 households
4.9
disconnections for every 100 residential customers it serves
Counts disconnection events — one household can be shut off more than once. From Pepco (D.C.)'s own filings to the U.S. EIA (Form EIA-112, Residential Utility Disconnections Survey), first collected for 2024. eia.gov →
Where your bill money goes: how Pepco (D.C.) earns its profit
Because Pepco (D.C.) is a regulated monopoly, its profit isn't set by competing for customers — it's set by regulators. The DC PSC authorizes a target return on equity (around 9.5% to 10.5% for U.S. electric utilities) on the money it sinks into poles, wires, substations, and meters. It's a target, not a guarantee — a utility can earn above or below it — but a low-risk regulated monopoly reliably lands close. You pay that return back, plus the investment itself, through the delivery charge on every bill.
Pepco (D.C.) is owned by Exelon. In 2024, Exelon reported about $2.5 billion in net income — its profit across all of the utilities it owns, not Pepco (D.C.) alone. Source: Exelon's annual report (SEC Form 10-K, fiscal year 2024). SEC EDGAR →
That authorized return is set by regulators on the utility's investment — independently of how reliable the service is or how many customers are disconnected, the two measures above.
Rate cases & increases
- FC1176 hearings
Pepco's second D.C. Multiyear Rate Plan (FC1176) requested $190.7 million. DCPSC approved a reduced $123.4 million plan in Nov. 2024, but the D.C. Court of Appeals vacated that approval in March 2026 — so there is no approved increase currently in effect. The case is back before the DCPSC, with an evidentiary hearing held May 2026.
Pepco (D.C.) rate alerts
Email alerts for Pepco (D.C.) are coming soon — we're setting them up with double opt-in and one-click unsubscribe, and we'll never sell your data. For now, this page and the Washington, D.C. hub track every active rate case.