DC voters are right to be alarmed about Kenyan McDuffie’s campaign and record on affordability
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 5, 2026
DC voters are right to be alarmed about Kenyan McDuffie’s campaign and record on affordability
WASHINGTON, DC — In recent days, DC press has reported that mayoral candidate and former councilmember Kenyan McDuffie has been “responding to concerns about the subdued start to his campaign” that “inspired alarm from some prominent backers.”
“‘Alarm’ seems like exactly the right word to describe how DC voters should view both Kenyan McDuffie’s campaign and record in office, especially on his failure to keep utility bills low for DC families,” said David Whitehead, Co-Chair of Sierra Club PAC.
Starting in 2017, Kenyan McDuffie was responsible for overseeing the DC Public Service Commission (PSC), which reviews and approves what electric and gas utilities can charge DC residents. During his tenure, gas and electric bills have soared. From 2020 to 2025, DC electricity prices increased 93%, the highest in the nation, and nearly 1 in 7 DC residents are behind on their electric bills. McDuffie time and again failed to provide meaningful oversight while the PSC rubberstamped rate-increase after rate-increase without appropriate scrutiny or proper justification.
The Washington Post also recently reported on concerns over McDuffie’s oversight of the PSC, where he “defended his oversight as 'vigorous’,” but the facts speak for themselves.
For more than a decade, the DC Public Service Commission (PSC) approved multiple rate hikes for DC residents. In a recent rate hike, one of the three commissioners voted against the increase, saying that the rationale for allowing the rate hike “could be summarized as ‘because Pepco said so.” Just this week, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, in a rather unprecedented action, vacated the PSC’s approval of one of Pepco’s rate hikes, sending it back to the PSC, saying they had not done enough due diligence to prove the increase on DC residents was justified.
This was all happening when McDuffie had direct oversight over this commission. “Vigorous” oversight does not mean turning a blind eye to what are clear problems at the PSC.
“The consequences of Kenyan McDuffie’s inaction are being felt across the District as utility bills spiral out of control -- in no small part, District residents have Kenyan McDuffie to thank for it,” said Matt Gravatt, Co-Chair of Sierra Club PAC. “McDuffie’s new platform on sky-high utility rates appears to be nothing more than a true and timely admission that his tenure on the DC Council with the responsibility to oversee DC’s utility rate-setting body was some kind of failure.”
So, while ‘alarms’ may be going off across DC regarding Kenyan McDuffie’s ‘subdued’ campaign approach, DC voters should also be alarmed by Kenyan McDuffie’s record. His platform appears to be little more than an attempt to cover up his inaction as rate increases pile up on DC residents, and excuse his doing next to nothing when he had the ability to do something about it.
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Paid for by Sierra Club DC PAC, 50 F Street NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20001. Matthew Gravatt, Treasurer.
A copy of our report is filed with the Director of Campaign Finance of the District of Columbia Board of Elections.