Washington, D.C

DC-area utility bills have gone up, and that trend may continue – WTOP News

Published

11 months ago

April 24, 2025

DC-area utility bills have gone up, and that trend may continue – WTOP News

Gas and electric bills have been rising across the D.C. region for a while and that trend may continue, with Washington Gas proposing a rate hike in the near future.

“There’s been a strong upward trend of higher utility bills beyond just the rate of inflation,” said Claire Mills with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, a nonprofit that advocates for policies supporting climate stability in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. “It’s a really tough environment.”

The Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia, an agency that regulates local utility companies, is considering a proposal from Washington Gas to raise rates by about 12%.

According to the utility, the increase is needed to generate revenue to cover the cost of maintaining and upgrading its infrastructure.

“This is a really massive increase for the average customer,” Mills said, noting that it could push monthly bills up by at least $15.

The commission has held several community meetings to discuss the proposed hike. And Mills was at the most recent event.

“I think almost 20 people had the time to testify, and every single person was talking about how we can’t afford these increased rates,” she said. “One of the people testifying was talking about having to pay $200 a month on gas already.”

Other utility bills have also risen recently.

In January, Pepco informed its customers that electric bills would be increasing by about 5%.

“We have the cost for the literal energy we’re using, and that’s going up because of issues with the regional energy grid,” Mills said. “Then there’s also the distribution charges, like the cost of getting the energy to your house, and that’s going up because of regulatory decisions.”

Unpredictable weather has played a role, too.

Earlier this year, Pepco said it would extend assistance to customers whose energy bills spiked dramatically over the winter.

William Ellis, director of external affairs for Pepco, told WTOP in February that the sticker shock was especially tough on customers after a mild fall.

“It was a very mild November, where the average temperature was about 60 degrees,” Ellis said.

Compare that to the winter conditions where “the average temperature has been hovering around 30 degrees,” Ellis said, which led to “tremendous spikes in customers’ usage” and higher bills.

Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

Source link

Click to comment

Washington, D.C

Thousands turn out – again – as third 'No Kings' rallies take over Maryland streets

Published

7 hours ago

March 28, 2026

Press Room

Thousands turn out – again – as third 'No Kings' rallies take over Maryland streets

Thousands turned out at the dozens of No Kings rallies scattered across Maryland, part of the millions expected across the country for the third such event. In Maryland, turnout was particularly heavy in Hagerstown, near a proposed ICE detention facility.

Source link

Washington, D.C

WATCH LIVE: No Kings march and rally in DC

Published

19 hours ago

March 28, 2026

Press Room

WATCH LIVE: No Kings march and rally in DC

WASHINGTON – Thousands are expected gather in Washington, D.C. for a “No Kings” march and rally.

Here’s everything you need to know:

What is the No Kings protest?

What we know:

Organized locally by area chapters of Indivisible and allied grassroots groups, the event aims to draw protesters to downtown Washington and surrounding counties to oppose policies of the Trump administration and to voice broader concerns about civil rights and democratic norms.

No Kings protest details

Timeline:

The march will kick off at 10 a.m., with participants gathering at Memorial Circle near Arlington Cemetery, with additional access from the Blue Line or nearby parking at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, according to the event organizers. There is no public parking in the immediate area, but participants can be dropped off at the circle.

From there, the procession will head across the Memorial Bridge into Washington, D.C., passing the Lincoln Memorial and continuing on to the Washington Monument.

At the conclusion of the march, participants can walk to a downtown rally, from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Other ‘No Kings’ rallies in the DMV

Dig deeper:

In addition to the main rally in downtown D.C., several other demonstrations tied to “No Kings 3” are scheduled around the DMV this Saturday.

In Arlington, Virginia, activists are organizing a march across the Memorial Bridge beginning at 10 a.m., with protesters expected to continue into West Potomac Park before joining larger crowds in the District proper, for example.

There are hundreds of “No Kings” events scheduled to take place this Saturday throughout the DMV. You can click here to find a list of all of them.

How to watch No Kings march and rally in DC

What you can do:

FOX 5 DC will be covering No Kings in D.C. all day on FOX LOCAL and in the liveplayer at the top of this story.

FOX 5 DC is available to watch for free on Roku, Amazon FireTV, Apple TV, Google Android TV and Vizio with the FOX LOCAL app. Here’s how to download FOX LOCAL on your mobile phone.

Washington, D.C.News

Source link

Washington, D.C

‘Strong smell’ shuts down flights at major DC-area airports for the second time this month

Published

1 day ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

‘Strong smell’ shuts down flights at major DC-area airports for the second time this month

Check out what’s clicking on FoxBusiness.com.

A reported “strong smell” at a key air traffic control center disrupted flights Friday evening at major airports across the Washington, D.C., region for the second time in two weeks.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) temporarily halted flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI), Charlottesville–Albemarle Airport (CHO) and Richmond International Airport (RIC), the agency told FOX Business in an email.

The FAA said the disruptions were due to a “strong smell” at the Potomac Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) center, which manages airspace in the region.

GROUND STOP LIFTED AT MAJOR DC-AREA AIRPORTS AFTER CHEMICAL ODOR DISRUPTS AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

An FAA air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va. (Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

It was not immediately clear what caused the smell.

Ground stops at Dulles, Reagan National and BWI remained in effect until around 8 p.m. ET before being lifted, according to the FAA’s website.

NEWARK AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS LOST RADAR, RADIO COMMUNICATIONS WITH PLANES FOR OVER A MINUTE, SPARKING CHAOS

The FAA said the disruption was due to a “strong smell” at the Potomac Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) center. (Flightradar24)

As of 8:30 p.m., Reagan National was experiencing ground delays, while BWI continued to see departure delays.

Earlier this month, a ground stop was similarly issued at several airports in the Washington, D.C., region after a chemical odor was detected at the TRACON center.

FATAL LAGUARDIA COLLISION RENEWS FOCUS ON RUNWAY INCURSION RISKS ACROSS US

Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy speaks at a news conference at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images / Getty Images)

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

The temporary ground stop March 13 similarly affected DCA, IAD, BWI and RIC, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at the time.

Duffy said the smell came from an overheated circuit board, which has since been replaced.

Source link