Contrary to the findings of a number of other state PUCs and FERC, the District of Columbia Public Service Commission determined to deny the merger application of Exelon and Pepco. In so doing the Commission found that when the, "Merger is considered as a whole, . . . . the Joint Applicants have not met their burden of persuading this Commission that the Proposed Merger is in the public interest." The Commission looked at seven public interest factors in reaching its decision, including the impacts on competition in wholesale and retail markets. With regard to this factor, the Commission concluded, "the Proposed Merger provides no additional benefits with respect to wholesale competition or with respect to retail competition. Because an Exelon-owned affiliate is a major player in the SOS wholesale SOS procurement process, the Commission would need to review both its affiliate transaction rules, the SOS procurement rules and the Wholesale Full Requirements Service Agreement would need to be reviewed and possibly amended to make certain that they fairly and reasonably address any concerns about conflicts of interest or procedural fairness to prevent any potential harm to District ratepayers and the Commission’s SOS Program. Additionally, the Proposed Merger raises a potential harm in that there is a potential conflict of interest if the company that controls the local distribution company seeks to delay changes necessary to encourage additional distributed generation because of its ownership of alternative generation sources." Exelon and Pepco have thirty days to request reconsideration of the decision. The full text of the Order is available on the NEM Website.