Former councilmember Kenyan McDuffie has a long history of working hand-in-hand with DC’s for-profit monopoly utility companies, Pepco and Washington Gas, as they raised costs on struggling DC residents.
As chair of the DC Council committee with oversight of utility regulation, McDuffie helped Pepco kill a key energy affordability measure, worked with Washington Gas to try to gut legislation to reduce energy use in DC government buildings, and provided no meaningful oversight while DC’s electric rates skyrocketed twice as much nearby states.
Why? It’s hard to know, since McDuffie has never explained himself. But we know that he has received thousands of dollars in campaign cash from executives, staffers, and lobbyists with Washington Gas, Pepco, and Pepco parent company Exelon. He’s also met with utility lobbyists five times more than any other councilmember. In addition, multiple former McDuffie chiefs of staff rotated between working for McDuffie and a for-profit utility company.
How much cash have utility company lobbyists contributed to McDuffie’s campaigns?
Below is a non-exhaustive list of executives, staff, and lobbyists with Pepco and Washington Gas who gave to McDuffie’s campaigns, from his Ward 5 campaigns to now his 2026 mayoral bid.
- Lamont Akins, Pepco Director of Governmental and External Affairs - $200 to 2022 AG campaign, $1,000 to 2022 at-large campaign, $200 to 2026 mayoral campaign
- John Huffman, Pepco CEO - $500 to 2014 Ward 5 campaign
- Dave Velazquez, former Pepco CEO - $500 to 2014 Ward 5 campaign
- Pepco Holdings Inc. - $500 to 2014 Ward 5 campaign
- Colette Honorable, Exelon Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer - $200 to 2026 mayoral campaign
- Michael Sullivan, Pepco Senior Vice President for Operations - $500 to 2014 Ward 5 campaign
- Peter Meier, Pepco Vice President for Legal Services - $500 to 2014 Ward 5 campaign
- Joseph Rigby, Pepco CEO - $500 to 2014 Ward 5 campaign
- Laura Monica, Pepco Vice President for Corporate Communications - $500 to 2014 Ward 5 campaign
- Thomas Graham, Pepco Vice President for People Strategy - $500 to 2014 Ward 5 campaign
- Laisha Dougherty, Pepco Senior External Affairs Specialist, later McDuffie’s chief of staff - $150 to 2018 Ward 5 campaign, $100 to 2022 AG campaign
- James Pittman, Pepco Government and External Affairs Director - $200 to 2022 AG campaign
- Mary Greenan, Pepco External Relations Manager - $200 to 2022 AG campaign
- Eric Grant, Exelon Senior Marketing Manager and McDuffie 2014 campaign treasurer - $100 to 2018 Ward 5 campaign, $200 to 2022 AG campaign, $250 2022 at-large campaign
- Travoris Culpepper, Pepco External Affairs Manager - $20 to 2018 Ward 5 campaign, $100 to to 2026 mayoral campaign
- Jamaal Jordan, Pepco Senior External Affairs Specialist - $100 to 2018 Ward 5 campaign, $25 to 2022 AG campaign
- Karen Hardwick, Washington Gas Senior Vice President and General Counsel - $200 to 2022 AG campaign, $500 to 2022 at-large campaign
- Jim Steffes, Washington Gas Senior Vice President for Regulation - $200 to 2022 AG campaign, $250 to 2022 at-large campaign
- Mallik Angalakudati, Washington Gas Senior Vice President for Strategy - $150 to 2022 AG campaign
- Valencia McClure, Pepco Vice President for Governmental and External Affairs, - $200 to 2026 mayoral campaign
- Max Brown, Group 360, lobbied for Washington Gas - $500 to 2012 Ward 5 campaign, $500 to 2014 Ward 5 campaign, $500 to 2018 Ward 5 campaign, $200 to 2022 AG campaign, $1,000 to 2022 at-large campaign, $200 to 2026 mayoral campaign
- Rob Hawkins, Berlin Rosen, formerly Nelson Mullins, lobbied for Washington Gas - $200 to 2022 AG campaign
- David Catania, Georgetown Public Affairs, lobbied for Washington Gas - $200 to 2022 AG campaign, $1,000 to 2022 at-large campaign, $200 to 2026 mayoral campaign
- Ben Young, Georgetown Public Affairs, lobbied for Washington Gas - $200 to 2022 AG campaign, $1,000 to 2022 at-large campaign, $200 to 2026 mayoral campaign
- Corey Arnez Griffin, Global Government and Industry Partners, lobbied for Pepco - $500 to 2012 Ward 5 campaign, $500 to 2014 Ward 5 campaign, $500 to 2018 Ward 5 campaign, $200 to 2022 AG campaign
What did utility companies get for all that campaign cash?
McDuffie’s office appears to have had an open-door policy when it came to utility lobbyists. McDuffie had five times more contact with Pepco lobbyists than any other councilmember. All of the meetings were organized by the lobbying firm of McDuffie’s first chief of staff.
DC law requires that communications between lobbyists and councilmembers be disclosed to the Board of Ethics and Government Affairs (BEGA). According to data from BEGA’s Lobbyist Registration & Reporting Search, from 2018 to 2024, McDuffie had dozens of meetings with lobbyists and executives from Pepco, its parent company Exelon, and lobbying firms hired by the utility company. No other councilmember had more than five meetings with Pepco over that time.
McDuffie-Pepco-Washington Gas revolving door?
McDuffie isn’t just taking campaign cash from and regularly meeting with utility executives and lobbyists. It appears there was also a revolving door between McDuffie’s DC Council office and DC’s monopoly utilities and lobbying firms representing them. Multiple former McDuffie chiefs of staff and a campaign treasurer lobbied for utility companies Pepco or Washington Gas before or after working for McDuffie.
- Corey Arnez Griffin: former chief of staff who is now president and chief executive officer of Global Government and Industry Partners, a lobbying firm whose clients have included Pepco and Washington Gas
- Ronan Gulstone: former chief of staff, now a partner at Holland & Knight’s energy practice, previously government affairs manager at Washington Gas
- Laisha Dougherty: former chief of staff who was previously senior external affairs specialist at Pepco
- Eric Grant: 2014 campaign treasurer and senior marketing manager at Pepco
Former DC Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie maintained close ties to Pepco and Washington Gas, all while the utility companies jacked up gas and electric rates. During his eight years chairing the DC Council committee with oversight of utility regulation, McDuffie could have scrutinized utility rate hikes and defended families struggling with higher costs. Instead, he sided with utility lobbyists. Now, DC residents see the results of McDuffie’s cozy relationships with utility lobbyists each month when they open up their Pepco and Washington Gas bills.