by Keryn

On December 21, the Maryland Public Service Commission fined Pepco in the amount of $1M as punishment for their unreliable electric service.  They were also voted by consumers as the most hated company in America last June.  In response, Pepco mucks their public relations barn and the b.s. starts to fly.

Does Pepco think that they can buy a semblance of "reliability" and consumer approval, instead of actually earning one, with the purchase of the PATH Project's hand-me-down astroturf front group?  Bad plan, Pepco, don't do it!!  The "Marylanders for Reliable Power" is nothing but a flaming bag of headaches that will cause their next corporate benefactor to end up with even more egg on its face.

This fraudulent "grassroots" group was created by a public relations firm to build advocacy for FirstEnergy's (formerly Allegheny Energy) and American Electric Power's ill-fated PATH transmission project.  It was not a spontaneous effort by anxious consumers to join together to improve electric reliability.  Allegheny Energy's purchase orders and contracts with The Artemis Group were made public last year at FERC as part of the Formal Challenge to PATH's 2009 ATRR.  In addition, the "coalition" and its expenses (which were wrongly recovered from ratepayers) is mentioned again in the recently filed Formal Challenge to PATH's 2010 ATRR.  This "coalition" has long since been exposed to the public as the fraud it is and the public relations firm that was its Dr. Frankenstein lost a big chunk of monthly income when the PATH Project was suspended by PJM (just like they did with Pepco's MAPP Project several months later).  Of course they would like to try to squeeze a little more blood out of this particular turnip by selling the pieces to some corporate stooge like Pepco as the solution to their reliability and reputation problems, but the Marylanders for Reliable Power are POISON!  Run, Pepco, runnnnnnnnnn!

Here's a novel (and free!) idea for Pepco that will go much further to assist them in rebuilding their reputation -- actually earning the respect of its customers through honest effort and sweat equity that will provide a reliable product for the public that Pepco is supposed to serve.  You cannot purchase respect!