PSC approves budget reallocation within DPL and Pepco demand-response portfolios; Office of People's Counsel supports

The Public Service Commission on Sept. 24, 2025, approved budget reallocation requests filed by Delmarva Power & Light Company (DPL) and Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco) that shift incentive funding within their demand-response portfolios to expand residential BYOD (bring-your-own-device) programs.

Paige Shaw, presenting on behalf of staff, said DPL requested to shift 59% of its incentive budget from its flexible load management (FLM) residential program to its residential BYOD program and 81% of its commercial BYOD incentive budget to its residential BYOD program. Staff described this as resulting in an approximately 140% increase in the residential BYOD program for DPL. Staff said the reallocation would cause a small increase in the Empower residential surcharge — described in the filing as roughly 0.00035¢ per kilowatt-hour — and that an average DPL residential customer using 1,004 kWh per month could see an increase of about $0.03 per month (from $10.69 per month to $10.72 per month, as presented in the staff materials). Staff noted DPL was not requesting a change to the currently approved Empower surcharge amount and that any over- or under-collection would be trued up in the upcoming 2026 Empower surcharge filings.

Shaw also said Pepco requested to shift 10% of its incentive budget from its residential FLM program to its residential BYOD program. Staff advised that Commission Order No. 90957 allows utilities to reallocate up to 15% of approved residential or commercial sector-level budgets without Commission approval; Pepco's requested shift is below that 15% threshold while DPL's requested shifts exceed it. Staff recommended approval of DPL's and Pepco's requests, stating the reallocations should not negatively impact the remaining programs and would keep the residential BYOD programs sufficiently funded.

Representatives from the Office of People's Counsel (OPC) voiced support for the reallocations, saying OPC has advocated for demand-response programs and that the change helps ensure popular BYOD programs continue to operate without running out of funds. Taylor Beckham, speaking for Pepco and DPL, said the companies had nothing further to add beyond staff and OPC's review.

Commissioners asked questions before voting. Commissioner Suchman asked whether the FLM program requires customers to own a device and expressed concern about customers who cannot afford their own device being excluded by moving budget to BYOD. Staff said it would double-check whether FLM provides options for customers without devices and noted current forecasts did not show the reallocation would negatively affect incentives available through FLM. Commissioner Linton asked about low commercial participation in the commercial BYOD program and whether additional promotion would change that forecast; the company representative said marketing efforts continue and that commercial participation could increase in future years. After discussion, the commission approved the budget reallocation requests; Commissioners McLean, Linton, Suchman and Barbet each recorded “aye.”

The commission record notes staff will follow up on whether the FLM program requires customer-owned devices and will monitor program performance after the reallocation.