The Commission has received 664 comments urging it to deny Washington Gas’s request to take $215 million from customers for its fossil fuel pipeline project

WASHINGTON, DC —An unprecedented number of public comments have flooded the D.C. Public Service Commission (PSC) docket voicing opposition to Washington Gas’s harmful “Project Pipes” program. A total of 664 D.C.-area residents are urging the Commission to reject Washington Gas’s latest request to raise customer rates for this controversial $215 million methane gas pipeline replacement project. The comments, which were submitted over the past two months, call for a halt to the project and demand that the PSC begin the planning needed to jumpstart the District’s transition to clean energy.

This surge of comments is the latest in an extensive history of opposition to Washington Gas’s Project Pipes. The monopoly utility is attempting to greenwash the project by rebranding it as “District SAFE” but that is a total misnomer. Just last month, the coalition Beyond Gas D.C. released a new report, titled “Cooking Up Danger,” which exposes the hazardous levels of indoor air pollution caused by gas stoves. After testing nearly 700 homes in D.C. and Maryland, citizen scientists found that 63% of homes tested exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s health standard for safe outdoor exposure to nitrogen dioxide. In D.C. alone, 77% of homes tested exceeded the EPA’s standard.

“Washington Gas is more interested in changing their marketing on Project Pipes than addressing the real threat that this wildly expensive project poses to D.C. residents,”  said Claire Mills, D.C. Campaigns Manager for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) Action Fund. “But the sheer number of comments to the PSC make it clear: it’s time to invest in effective gas leak detection and repair, not spend on get-rich-quick schemes for Washington Gas that lock us into fossil fuels for decades to come,”

Both the comments and this latest report add to the mounting evidence demonstrating that Project Pipes is ineffective, drives up customer bills, and fails to keep residents safe from the dangers of methane gas. In addition to the health harms laid out in the report, explosive gas leaks increased by 40% between 2014 and 2022 despite a decade of Project Pipes work. Washington Gas is putting D.C. residents’ health and safety at risk while raising rates to pay for a program that contradicts D.C.’s climate commitments.

Advocates are urging the PSC to reject additional spending on fossil fuels and instead implement a District-wide strategy to introduce cleaner, cost-effective heating solutions. This could include networked geothermal systems and expanding programs to assist low-income residents in adopting efficient electric equipment and energy efficiency upgrades.

Contact: 

Claire Mills, D.C. Campaigns Manager, claire@chesapeakeclimate.org, 847-910-1592
KC Chartrand, CCAN Action Fund, kc@chesapeakeclimate.org, 240-620-7144   

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The Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) Action Fund is dedicated to driving change in public policies at the local, state and national level to address the climate crisis. Through voter education, lobbying, and participation in the electoral process, we seek to advance our country’s leadership in the global movement towards clean energy solutions — focusing our efforts primarily in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. We know that a vibrant democracy is central to our success so we work to defend democratic integrity wherever we can.