This pattern mirrors well-documented socioeconomic disparities across the District. Energy burden is primarily explained by income, but older housing and limited access to energy efficiency programs compound the disparity in these neighborhoods, where inefficient infrastructure drives higher consumption regardless of rate increases. As a result, when electricity rates rise across the board, the burden lands heaviest on the households with the least capacity to absorb it.

A mayor and council committed to protecting the District’s most financially vulnerable residents should use income-based rate design to tie what households pay to what they earn, not just what they consume. And unlike an emergency moratorium, which would temporarily ban utilities from shutting off power for households that can’t pay their bill, income-based rate designs address the underlying mismatch rather than deferring it.

2. Strengthening regulatory oversight can help prevent DC ratepayers from overpaying for electricity. 

Between June 2023 and January 2026, the DC Public Service Commission (PSC) approved four consecutive rate increases totaling an additional $31.64 per month for the average residential customer.

Behind DC’s recent electricity rate increases is a regulatory structure that reduced the frequency of traditional oversight.

In most jurisdictions, utilities file for rate increases through individual rate cases, which trigger a formal review of whether proposed costs are justified before new rates take effect. Since 2023, Pepco has instead set rates through a multiyear rate plan (MRP), meaning Pepco proposes several years of rate increases upfront based on projected costs. Regulators on the DC PSC then review whether those costs were justified, after customers have already paid.

Though MRPs are used in 14 states, research finds their cost-containment benefits are heavily dependent on design choices, including performance requirements that DC’s version lacked.

In March 2026, the DC Court of Appeals vacated the PSC’s approval of the 2025 and 2026 rate increases, finding that the PSC had approved the rate plan without first holding a required evidentiary hearing to resolve material disputes about Pepco’s cost projections. The court found that Pepco and other parties had reached materially different conclusions about key cost calculations, including projected energy use per customer.

Legislation is currently pending in the DC Council to require future rate plans to be based on historic rather than projected costs, which evidence on utility best practices shows is one of the most durable protections available.

For a new administration committed to protecting ratepayers, this moment is an opportunity to ensure the PSC conducts rigorous cost reviews before approving future rate plans, rather than after rates take effect. 

3. Closing the enrollment gap in existing electricity affordability programs can help households who need them most.

DC has more tools to address electricity affordability than most cities its size. The Residential Aid Discount program provides bill credits that cover nearly all distribution charges to qualifying customers with low incomes. The District administers funding from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program that can help households cover energy costs. DC’s community solar program offers renters and households access to clean energy bill credits. 

On paper, the city has programs to help households in need, but enrollment in these programs has lagged in neighborhoods where electricity burden is highest.

The Residential Aid Discount program’s reach depends heavily on active outreach and enrollment, and the highest-burdened tracts, Wards 7 and 8, are underenrolled. There, only about a third of eligible households are enrolled in federal energy assistance programs, but more than half of households qualify.

DC’s Solar for All program has fallen short of its potential: Despite their ambitious target of enrolling 100,000 households with low incomes, the program has reached roughly 11,000 to date–largely because the federal government terminated Solar for All funding in August 2025. The future of funding for the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program is also uncertain (PDF), putting two important financial lifelines for DC’s households with low incomes at risk as local electricity costs continue to rise.

To protect thousands of households currently falling through the cracks, the next mayor can expand categorical eligibility for the Residential Aid Discount program so that households enrolled in other District assistance programs automatically qualify. Targeted outreach in wards with the highest electricity burdens, paired with investments in community solar enrollment for renters with low incomes, would also extend the programs’ reach.

Policymakers could also consider implementing income-based utility payment plans, typically funded through ratepayer universal service funds or state budget appropriations. At least 10 states offer these plans, including neighboring Virginia, which recently paired its program with free weatherization support.

Addressing high energy costs is key to boosting affordability in the District

DC’s electricity affordability challenges did not happen overnight, and they will not be solved with a single policy. But the evidence is clear on where the burden is greatest, why it has grown, and what can be done about it.

As DC’s next mayor and council confront rising costs and growing pressure on household budgets, targeting income-based rate relief, closing enrollment gaps in existing programs, and demanding greater scrutiny of future rate plans offer a concrete path toward a more affordable energy future for the District’s most burdened residents.