More Than 40,000 District Residents Sign Petition in Support of the Pepco Holdings-Exelon Merger
Number of D.C. residents who signed the petition could fill the
Verizon Center more than twice
More than 40,000 District of Columbia residents have signed a petition
in support of the merger of Pepco Holdings Inc. (NYSE: POM) and Exelon
Corporation (NYSE: EXC). A list of those who signed the petition was
filed yesterday with the Public Service Commission of the District of
Columbia and is available here.
These residents join a diverse group of more than 80 business, community
and faith organizations that already publicly voiced their support for
the transaction.
To provide some perspective:
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If each signed petition were laid end to end, it would span nearly 7
miles or almost 3.5 times the length of the National Mall.
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The number of District residents who signed the petition is more than
1.5 times the entire student body of George Washington University.
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These D.C. merger supporters could fill the Verizon Center more than
twice.
The full text of the petition is available at PHITomorrow.com. The
number of petition signatures continues to grow daily. In addition,
merger supporters in the District have written more than 6,500 letters
and growing. Those letters also are being filed with the Public Service
Commission.
“Tens of thousands of residents from across the District have clearly
stated they want this merger, which will provide more than $72 million
for bill credits, low-income customer assistance, renewable energy and
energy efficiency programs for the District. In addition, we’ve
committed to promote local jobs in the District and will provide $5.2
million for workforce development,” said Melissa Sherrod, vice president
of Corporate Affairs, Exelon. “In fact, at community hearings last
month, dozens of District residents and community groups turned out to
say they support our merger because of these significant benefits.”
Pepco Holdings and Exelon in early October reached a merger settlement
agreement with the District of Columbia government, Office of the
People’s Counsel, Attorney General and others that provides
substantially enhanced benefits to District residents. The settlement
package was specifically shaped to address the concerns articulated by
the Public Service Commission in its August order.
“Merging with Exelon will make Pepco a stronger company, both
financially and operationally, and that will be good for customers,”
said Donna Cooper, region president, Pepco. “This is a significant
opportunity to bring millions of dollars in long-term, tangible benefits
to District residents in terms of energy affordability, reliability and
sustainability.”
The merger has been approved in Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and
Virginia and by federal regulators. The D.C. PSC has set a schedule
which would allow for completing the proceeding by the first quarter of
2016.
About Exelon Corporation
Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC) is the nation’s leading competitive
energy provider, with 2014 revenues of approximately $27.4 billion.
Headquartered in Chicago, Exelon does business in 48 states, the
District of Columbia and Canada. Exelon is one of the largest
competitive U.S. power generators, with approximately 32,000 megawatts
of owned capacity comprising one of the nation’s cleanest and
lowest-cost power generation fleets. The company’s Constellation
business unit provides energy products and services to more than 2.5
million residential, public sector and business customers, including
more than two-thirds of the Fortune 100. Exelon’s utilities deliver
electricity and natural gas to more than 7.8 million customers in
central Maryland (BGE), northern Illinois (ComEd) and southeastern
Pennsylvania (PECO). Follow Exelon on Twitter @Exelon.
About Pepco Holdings Inc.
Pepco Holdings Inc. is one of the largest energy delivery companies in
the Mid-Atlantic region, serving about 2 million customers in Delaware,
the District of Columbia, Maryland and New Jersey. PHI subsidiaries
Pepco, Delmarva Power and Atlantic City Electric provide regulated
electricity service; Delmarva Power also provides natural gas service.
PHI also provides energy efficiency and renewable energy services
through Pepco Energy Services. For more information, visit online: www.pepcoholdings.com.
Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information
Except for the historical information contained herein, certain of the
matters discussed in this communication constitute “forward-looking
statements” within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, both as amended by the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “may,” “might,”
“will,” “should,” “could,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,”
“predict,” “project,” “future,” “potential,” “intend,” “seek to,”
“plan,” “assume,” “believe,” “target,” “forecast,” “goal,” “objective,”
“continue” or the negative of such terms or other variations thereof and
words and terms of similar substance used in connection with any
discussion of future plans, actions, or events identify forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements include, but are not
limited to, statements regarding benefits of the proposed merger,
integration plans and expected synergies, the expected timing of
completion of the transaction, anticipated future financial and
operating performance and results, including estimates for growth. These
statements are based on the current expectations of management of Exelon
Corporation (Exelon) and Pepco Holdings, Inc. (PHI), as applicable.
There are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements
included in this communication. For example, (1) the uncertainty
surrounding reconsideration of the denial of the Merger application by
the DC Public Service Commission may delay the merger or cause the
companies to abandon the merger; (2) conditions to the closing of the
merger may not be satisfied; (3) problems may arise in successfully
integrating the businesses of the companies, which may result in the
combined company not operating as effectively and efficiently as expected;
(4) the combined company may be unable to achieve cost-cutting
synergies or it may take longer than expected to achieve those
synergies; (5) the merger may involve unexpected costs, unexpected
liabilities or unexpected delays, or the effects of purchase accounting
may be different from the companies’ expectations; (6) the credit
ratings of the combined company or its subsidiaries may be different
from what the companies expect; (7) the businesses of the
companies may suffer as a result of uncertainty surrounding the merger;
(8) the companies may not realize the values expected to be obtained for
properties expected or required to be sold; (9) the industry may be
subject to future regulatory or legislative actions that could adversely
affect the companies; and (10) the companies may be adversely affected
by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors. Other unknown
or unpredictable factors could also have material adverse effects on
future results, performance or achievements of the combined company.
Therefore, forward-looking statements are not guarantees or assurances
of future performance, and actual results could differ materially from
those indicated by the forward-looking statements. Discussions of some
of these other important factors and assumptions are contained in
Exelon’s and PHI’s respective filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC), and available at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov,
including: (1) Exelon’s 2014 Annual Report on Form 10-K in (a) ITEM 1A.
Risk Factors, (b) ITEM 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results of Operations and (c) ITEM 8. Financial
Statements and Supplementary Data: Note 22; (2) Exelon’s Third Quarter
2015 Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q in (a) Part II, Other Information,
ITEM 1A. Risk Factors; (b) Part 1, Financial Information, ITEM 2.
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results
of Operations and (c) Part I, Financial Information, ITEM 1. Financial
Statements: Note 19; (3) the definitive proxy statement that PHI filed
with the SEC on August 12, 2014 and mailed to its stockholders in
connection with the proposed merger (as supplemented by PHI’s Form 8-K
filed with the SEC on September 12, 2014); (4) PHI’s 2014 Annual Report
on Form 10-K in (a) ITEM 1A. Risk Factors, (b) ITEM 7. Management’s
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
and (c) ITEM 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data: Note 15;
and (5) PHI’s Third Quarter 2015 Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q in (a)
PART I, ITEM 1. Financial Statements, (b) PART I, ITEM 2. Management’s
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations, and (c) Part II, Other Information, ITEM 1A. Risk Factors.
In light of these risks, uncertainties, assumptions and factors, the
forward-looking events discussed in this communication may not occur.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this
communication. Neither Exelon nor PHI undertakes any obligation to
publicly release any revision to its forward-looking statements to
reflect events or circumstances after the date of this communication.
New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for Exelon
or PHI to predict all such factors. Furthermore, it may not be possible
to assess the impact of any such factor on Exelon’s or PHI’s respective
businesses or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors,
may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any
forward-looking statement. Any specific factors that may be provided
should not be construed as exhaustive.
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