Stormwater investments minimize legal liability but Mayor’s raid of $80 million from the DC Sustainable Energy Trust Fund denies utility relief to residents

Media Contact: Erik Salmi | [email protected] 

Today at 1 p.m., the DC Council’s Committee on Transportation and the Environment will meet to vote on budget recommendations proposed by Committee Chair Charles Allen that would reverse many of the broken promises in the Mayor’s proposed budget at a time when families and businesses are getting hit with high utility bills and the region recovers from one of the largest wastewater contaminations in US history.

In addition to fighting historically deep cuts to the District’s core climate and environmental programs, this budget will increase funding for transit planning connecting the RFK Campus to the rest of the city and supercharge the DC Green Bank to invest in more housing while providing funding for improved WMATA service, repaired sidewalks and roads, and major infrastructure projects.

The vote will be streamed live here. The Committee’s proposed budget for DC’s transportation and environmental agencies includes the following investments:  

• Fully funds DC’s commitment to WMATA and maintains all service, including existing 24/7 bus routes and an additional $6.3 million in FY26 for targeted improvements to Better Bus routes that have not resulted in better service, especially in more bus-dependent communities;
• Adds $1.5 million in seed money for the DC Green Bank to issue its first ‘Green Bond’ and increase the financing it can deploy in support of sustainable, affordable housing in the District;
  • The DC Green Bank is involved in most key development deals now in the District, including the $465 million deal for The Geneva, an office-to-residential conversion that will deliver 532 new homes. That project alone reflects the largest sustainable investment for a development project in the United States, to date;
• Moves the District back into greater compliance with federal law governing stormwater management practices that keep our rivers clean. After disinvestment in stormwater prevention programs by the Mayor, the District government now faces significant legal exposure for pollution runoff that could cost taxpayers $25,000 per day of noncompliance;
• Approves a brief delay of the next Building Energy Performance Standards cycle to give the next phase of buildings an opportunity to come into compliance and District agencies time to adapt with no progress lost on reducing emissions;
• Keeps in place the District’s Net-Zero requirements for new building construction to build for a future with far fewer emissions and energy consumption;
• Approves funding to develop a crosstown bus rapid transit line connecting RFK to Union Station with Bus Rapid Transit along H Street and Benning Road NE;
• Metro for DC…for Adult Students: The Committee increased the monthly transit stipend for adult learners in educational programs from $70 to $100;
• Provides grants to small businesses adjacent to three initial PLAZA corridors set to transform streets into pedestrian plazas in the coming year;
• Maintains funding for Capital Bikeshare, including the 3,200 e-bikes within the fleet, and dedicates $250,000 to the E-Bike Voucher Program Councilmember Allen created, of which more than half of the vouchers were awarded to residents in Wards 5, 7, and 8; and
• Reverses many cuts to dedicated environmental funds and programs, including the restoration of $600,000 to the Anacostia River Clean-up Fund, including a $200,000 for a grant for City Wildlife’s wild animal rehabilitation work.
• Funds the Youth Climate Council to create a formal mechanism for young DC residents to weigh in on climate decisions within the government.

Missing In Action: A Full Sustainable Energy Trust Fund Would Lower Utility Bills

The budget restores some of the millions of dollars in swept funds for the Department of Energy and Environment’s major fund for environmental and climate programs, the Sustainable Energy Trust Fund (SETF). This critical funding will prevent layoffs at the (SEU), a DC agency who works with all DC residents to reduce energy use and tap into renewables. For every dollar of investment that the District puts in into the SEU, residents District-wide save $6 dollars in utility spending.

“Imagine if the District government had a $100 million fund specifically created to help tens of thousands of residents grappling with high utility bills. We would, but for the Mayor smashing this fund like a piggy bank,” said Councilmember Allen. “Instead of helping people lower their bills, conserve energy, avoid disconnections, and add solar generation to their homes or community to insulate from cost drivers on the regional grid, that money is yet again being redirected by the Mayor (while the fees stay on your bill), to write a blank check to Pepco for the government’s electric bills. Clean energy investments are not one-off benefits — they lower bills month after month after month. While high bills might be great news for Pepco-Exelon’s bottom line, years of short-term thinking mean DC residents and local businesses are at the mercy of PJM’s mismanagement and Virginia’s unending appetite for more data centers. It’s a massive missed opportunity this Committee can’t reverse alone. The full Council will need to come together to prioritize a complete restoration of the Sustainable Energy Trust Fund.”

Over the past two years, the Mayor has decimated the SETF, taking $168 million from the fund to instead pay the District government’s energy bills, despite rising utility costs impacting every resident and business.  

Clean Rivers, Clear from Legal Liability

The District government is already out of compliance with federal requirements under the Clean Water Act. And without an increase in stormwater runoff prevention spending, the District may face serious legal exposure and potentially cost DC taxpayers $25,000 per day in penalties. To reverse the Mayor’s sweep of the District’s stormwater pollution prevention funding, the Committee is increasing the District’s stormwater fee by $1.36/month. This is a change to a fee, held flat for the past 16 years despite 3 updates to federal requirements, that will keep the District significantly below comparable rates in Maryland and Virginia. This adjustment will ensure stormwater investments are being made for cleaner streets and removal of trash and debris from the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers.

DC vs. Neighboring Jurisdictions (average monthly residential bill)

*Calculated per 1,000 square feet of impervious surface per month*

The Council’s Committee on Transportation and the Environment is chaired by Councilmember Charles Allen and includes Councilmembers Crawford, Henderson, Lewis George, and Parker. The full draft report, to be approved today by the Committee on Transportation and the Environment, is available for review here under “Committee Documents.”

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