Photo by Justin Hoffman

Pepco and Exelon have overcome one of their final hurdles in a bid to merge into the country’s largest electric utility company.

According to the Washington Post, the General Services Administration will stop criticizing the deal following discussions with D.C. government officials who approve of the merger.

From the Post:

The GSA, which purchases power for U.S. government buildings and more energy in the nation’s capital than anyone else, had effectively become the voice of American taxpayers in the mega-merger.

Over the past year, it had repeatedly questioned if the deal might perpetuate a rate structure that District regulators have acknowledged discriminates against federal taxpayers. The government and other large commercial energy users in the city now partially subsidize residential electric rates in D.C…

…GSA’s decision to stand down breaks with years of precedent by the agency. It also runs counter to its aggressive work as recently as this summer to elevate complaints about its utility costs in the District to the U.S. Justice Department. GSA had also filed a motion with regulators in October opposing a fast-track review of the merger.

GSA isn’t the first to switch positions on the Pepco/Exelon merger. In October Mayor Muriel Bowser announced her support of the deal, after saying she negotiated a better deal for residents.

Under the proposed merger, Chicago-based Exelon would acquire Pepco in a $6.4 billion deal. Exelon, which is the largest owner of nuclear power plants in the U.S., would be paying $2.5 billion more than the net book value of Pepco’s assets, analysts said. But the deal needed to win approval from regulators in Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, D.C., the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the U.S. Department of Justice. While the others gave the okay, the D.C. Public Service Commission rejected the proposed merger in August, saying that “it is not in the best interest of the people of the District of Columbia.”

Today begins two days of hearings at the Public Service Commission, which the GSA asked for permission not to attend, according to the Post.

Next Tuesday, Pepco and Exelon are hosting a citywide town hall meeting at the Howard Theatre. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the meeting begins at 7:30 p.m.