By Michael Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 18, 2008

D.C. Council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) is confident about the passage of her ambitious energy bill after defending the legislation yesterday.

"There will be tussling, but I believe we have the votes," Cheh said in an interview after a meeting of the Committee of the Whole.

The measure will be up for a vote July 2.

Also likely to pass next month is a bill that would place electronic message boards outside the John A. Wilson Building and Nationals Park that would display the amount District residents pay in federal taxes. Council members appeared determined to press ahead despite the team's opposition to the sign.

The energy bill, which would require that one-fifth of the energy used in the District come from renewable sources by 2020, is a streamlined version of the bill Cheh originally proposed. She removed language that would have legalized sub-meters, which allow landlords to charge tenants separately for utilities, reflecting concerns of some council members that the devices could lead to higher electric bills for low-income residents.

Cheh also removed several other proposals, including one for what she called a "smart grid," which would have helped to better monitor the city's electrical system through computer analysis. Cheh said that she feared the grid and other measures would delay the bill's passage and that she planned "to introduce them as pieces of separate legislation" at a later date.

Cheh said subsidies for low-income residents would be unchanged, and she said programs in the measure would reduce their energy bills overall.

Some fears about the legislation remained. "I just don't see a large portion of residents east of the river actually benefiting from that loan process . . . for the solar panels or that type of energy," said Yvette M. Alexander (D-Ward 7).

Other council members, including Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), praised the bill. "In terms of the issues related to power generation and power consumption in the District, you are exactly right," he said.

Thomas H. Graham, president of Pepco Region, reiterated his opposition to the bill yesterday, saying that many of the proposed programs duplicated Pepco's efforts. Graham also predicted that the cost of electricity would rise because of the renewable-energy requirement.

Cheh introduced a separate bill yesterday that would prevent Pepco from shutting power to customers on days when the temperature is forecast to be 90 degrees or greater.

The council also pushed ahead on the idea of message boards in support of D.C. voting rights.

"What better way to [protest D.C.'s lack of a vote] than on the side of that $611 million baseball stadium, so every time . . . ESPN shoots that wonderful stadium, there's a sign of taxation without representation?" said Kwame R. Brown (D-At Large), who introduced the bill. He also mentioned the proposed sign on the Wilson Building and its presence on January's presidential inauguration route. "I guarantee you that will make footage," he said.

"We need to have our own Boston Tea Party," said Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5).

Chartese Burnett, vice president of communications for the Nationals, declined to comment. The team has told the council chairman, Vincent C. Gray, that such a sign would be too political for a ballpark.