OREANDA-NEWS. 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:

• 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.

• The number of District residents who signed the petition is more than 1.5 times the entire student body of George Washington University.

• 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.