Work on the first phase of a multiyear effort to bury the District’s power lines will begin in the spring, after the D.C. Public Service Commission announced Thursday it had approved the $1 billion plan.
The first phase of the work, a joint partnership between Pepco and the D.C. Department of Transportation, will span three years and include 21 projects citywide in wards 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8. Neighborhoods including Friendship Heights and 16th Street Heights in Northwest, Brookland in Northeast and Anacostia and Hillcrest in Southeast will be among the those to see construction within the first year. The entire project is likely to span seven to 10 years.
The project will be paid for in part by $375 million in bonds issued by the District and, according to Pepco, would result in an average $1.12 monthly surcharge per customer. The commission is expected to vote Nov. 21 on the financing order authorizing the bonds.
The plan approved by the commission also calls for an Underground Project Charge to recover up to $42 million in Pepco’s work-related costs. Pepco will implement an additional surcharge for customers, which, for a customer using an average of 750 kilowatt hours per month, would amount to 17 cents in 2015. The surcharge would increase further in the future — to 91 cents in the third year the charge is in effect, according to Pepco.
D.C. officials began championing improved power reliability after the 2012 derecho that left more than 1.3 million residents and businesses without power in the District, Maryland and Northern Virginia. In some heavily damaged areas, it took more than a week to restore power.
“The Commission expects that the undergrounding project will greatly enhance the reliability and resilience of the electric distribution system as well as minimize the impact of more frequent severe weather events on electric distribution customers in the District,” the D.C. Public Service Commission said in a statement released Thursday.
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Both the D.C. Council and Mayor Vincent C. Gray signed off on legislation authorizing the plan.
• Andrea Noble can be reached at anoble@washingtontimes.com.
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