Laura Askew was bewildered when she noticed her electric bill steadily increasing in 2023. Her Pepco bill, which normally averaged $75 a month, skyrocketed to $200, then $500, then $800, she says.

When she looked closer at her bill, she noticed that it identified a different supplier: WGL Energy Svcs., rather than Pepco. Askew says she reached out to Pepco and Washington Gas, which is an entity related to WGL Energy, seeking answers. 

“I was hoping somebody could explain to me why my bill is still so tremendously high, when there’s nobody here but me,” she says. “I don’t cook that much. We don’t have central air and central heat.”

She says she got no answers, but the bills kept coming. She also says she received repeated calls from WGL Energy or another company (she isn’t even sure who was calling) insisting that she pay a $70 fee to cancel the contract. 

“I keep telling them I never enrolled in anything to break a contract,” she says.

Bernie Tylor, public relations manager for WGL Energy, writes in an email that the company prioritizes integrity, regulatory compliance, and customer protection, and uses a multilayered enrollment verification system to ensure legitimate enrollments.

Askew says her neighbors also received huge bills. One elderly tenant even moved out after receiving a disconnection notice because she was worried that her oxygen machine would not work.

Askew’s experience of having her utility provider switched without her consent is so common that there’s a name for it: slamming. The deceitful practice stems from D.C.’s deregulated energy market that allows consumers to choose retail electricity suppliers other than Pepco. This deregulation, which happened in 2001 and was meant to lower costs and increase choice, has had the opposite effect for many District energy customers. Many have had their electricity service switched to a different supplier without their knowledge or authorization, and confusing contracts with variable rates that start with low “teaser rates” quickly escalate, resulting in exorbitant bills or threats of disconnection. 

“The vast majority of consumers who ‘choose’ retail energy or get suckered by a door salesman, or a salesperson within Walmart pay more,” says Laurel Peltier, chair of the Maryland Energy Advocates Coalition. She says the District’s energy retail rates are “horrendous.”

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Energy consumers in the U.S. paid third-party suppliers $19.2 billion more than they would have paid their traditional utility company, according to a 2021 Wall Street Journal investigation. The overcharges may be significant in D.C., where 65 percent of energy sale volume is by third-party suppliers, according to 2023 data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. 

The issue has caught the attention of D.C.’s Office of the People’s Counsel and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, both of whom have issued consumer alerts warning of the potential scams.

The alerts describe the deceptive practices by third-party energy companies that pressure or trick residents into switching energy providers, typically charging higher rates than Pepco or Washington Gas.

Consumers should watch out for salespeople claiming to be from Pepco, Washington Gas, or the D.C. government who ask to see their bill, the attorney general warns, as third-party suppliers could use the information to switch providers without their knowledge. Mailers labeled as “urgent” that misleadingly resemble official utility communications are also common tactics.

The AG advises D.C. residents to be wary of claims that they’re “obligated” to choose a provider or that switching will guarantee cheaper bills, as introductory rates can drastically increase.

OPC continues to investigate reports that consumers’ utility accounts were switched without their consent. The agency’s alert from 2022 describes an instance where a resident was misled by someone claiming to be from “STAY DC,” a pandemic rental and utility assistance program, who offered to provide financial assistance. The resident showed the scammer their bill and later discovered their gas and electric accounts were switched to a third-party provider without their knowledge. OPC advises consumers to never share personal information and carefully review contracts before switching utility providers.

Adina Kauzlarich, senior communications manager at Pepco, tells City Paper that “in order to enroll with a third party, customers must provide their service number or present a copy of their bill.” 

Pepco is unable to dispute the matter with the supplier, she says. But “customers may contact us at any time to switch back to Standard Offer Service provided by Pepco. Customers should review their contract with their supplier to understand if any fees may apply as a result of cancelling their contract.”

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OPC has received thousands of complaints about third-party energy suppliers in D.C. since at least 2022. The agency provided City Paper with more than 1,000 pages of complaints in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, which only asked for complaints against nine of D.C.’s 236 approved third-party suppliers. 

Many of the complaints focus on the unexpected and misleading charges that lead to drastically inflated utility bills, and consumers report being enrolled with these third-party suppliers without their explicit understanding or consent.

One resident reported she was “led to believe that she would receive a discounted rate” only to find her bill “instead increased significantly,” causing “undue hardship” and “financial strain.”

One senior signed up with the third-party supplier Smart Energy on the promise of a voucher, which they never received, according to their complaint. Another reported that she “felt scammed by a 3rd party supplier,” and still had a remaining Pepco balance despite receiving assistance.

One particularly distressing complaint describes a family with a wheelchair-bound consumer and four sick children whose electricity was disconnected—a common consequence of the exorbitant third-party bills. Vulnerable groups—including disabled people, seniors on fixed incomes, households with children, and individuals with medical conditions requiring power-dependent equipment like oxygen machines—are sometimes left without essential power and heat as a result.

Consumers have little recourse in disputing charges. OPC notes in one complaint that the third-party supplier “refused to recalculate the customers account” even when the bill was double the utility’s rate. When OPC requested a recalculation of another consumer’s bill, the third-party supplier Mpower’s response was “since this enrollment was valid, Mpower is not obligated to provide a refund or compare our rate to the utility’s.”

For consumers at risk of disconnection or displacement, the Department of Energy and Environment’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program has provided assistance in the past. The agency says it has provided regular and emergency utility payments for more than 18,000 households. But the program received more than 9,000 applications for assistance in fiscal year 2025, and funding for the program ran out in March.

Energy customers who think they’ve been scammed by third-party suppliers can contact the OAG’s Office of Consumer Protection at 202-442-9828, by email at consumer.protection@dc.gov, or submit a complaint online. Customers can also file complaints with OPC or the DC Public Service Commission.