The District’s Public Service Commission will reconsider Washington Gas Light (WGL) Company’s proposed pipeline replacement plan after granting a request from the Office of the Attorney General, the Office of the People’s Counsel and the Sierra Club for a new hearing on the project.
Opponents of the WGL plan say it could drive utility bills even higher while providing too few assurances that the work is being completed efficiently.
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced Monday that the commission will hold a two-day rehearing on Washington Gas’ proposed District SAFE plan, giving attorneys representing the District an opportunity to question the company’s witnesses about the project, its costs and its impact on customers.
“Skyrocketing utility bills are worsening an affordability crisis for D.C. residents, and we cannot continue to give Washington Gas a blank check funded on the backs of ratepayers, especially when its pipe replacement project is behind schedule, over budget, and locks us into paying for a gas system that will soon be obsolete,” Schwalb said. “Any plan the commission approves must keep the community safe from dangerous gas leaks, ensure project funds are spent wisely, not wasted, and protect ratepayers from excessive and unwarranted rate increases.”
The hearings, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, revisit a dispute that has stretched on for years over Washington Gas’ effort to replace aging natural gas pipelines throughout the District. The company is seeking approval for the next phase of its District SAFE program, which would authorize approximately $215 million in work between 2025 and 2027. The project would be financed through a surcharge on customers’ gas bills.
Washington Gas says the proposal would replace 12 miles of gas main and thousands of service lines while addressing aging infrastructure throughout its distribution system.
The Public Service Commission approved a modified version of the proposal in March after what Schwalb’s office described as a limited hearing. The Office of the Attorney General, the Office of the People’s Counsel and the Sierra Club later sought a rehearing, arguing regulators lacked sufficient evidence to determine whether the project would adequately control costs, prioritize the most urgent repairs and align with the District’s long-term environmental goals.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, Washington Gas has spent nearly $400 million over the past 12 years on pipeline replacement but has replaced only a small portion of the older, leak-prone pipes in its system. During that same period, the number of Grade 1 gas leaks, the category considered to pose the greatest immediate safety risk, increased 40 percent between 2014 and 2022.
The Office of the Attorney General also said District residents saw gas bills rise approximately 13% between 2025 and 2026, with about 37% of that increase attributed to the surcharge that finances the ongoing pipe replacement program. Officials contend another phase of the project could push bills even higher for residents and businesses.
District officials have argued that Washington Gas’ latest proposal represents “a more expensive continuation… with fewer guardrails,” warning that customers could continue paying more while receiving diminishing returns from the replacement effort.
Schwalb’s office also cited an expert report commissioned by the District concluding that, if work continues at the company’s planned pace, replacing all gas pipes installed before 1970 would take more than 150 years and cost approximately $6.2 billion. The report estimated the current value of Washington Gas’ distribution system in the District at about $1.3 billion.
Environmental advocates also urged regulators to reconsider the proposal.
The commission’s rehearing will give attorneys representing the District the opportunity to cross-examine Washington Gas witnesses and continue pressing regulators to require stronger safeguards before approving the next phase of the company’s pipeline replacement program.
“D.C. utility regulators have allowed Washington Gas to charge District residents almost half a billion dollars for wasteful spending on dirty energy infrastructure that raises energy bills, pollutes the air we breathe, and fuels the climate crisis,” said Lara Levison, chair of the Sierra Club DC Chapter Energy Committee. “Enough is enough. It’s time for the D.C. regulators to end the fossil fuel gravy train for D.C.’s for-profit gas utility and put people over profits.”
