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SECOND PEOPLE’S COUNSEL
Brian Lederer (1977-1984)
Brian Lederer was appointed the second People’s Counsel in 1977 and served until 1984. He began his tenure with a pledge to help stabilize utility rates and generate more community input by engaging Advisory Neighborhood Commissions and establishing a new community- based consumer outreach office. A native of Honolulu, Lederer practiced law in Hawaii, Arkansas, and the District of Columbia prior
to becoming People’s Counsel and was a founding member of the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, which is
a membership organization of representatives from 44 states and Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Barbados. Overseeing OPC in the 1970s during the energy crisis, Lederer secured a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The DOE’s Office of Consumer Protection section gave funds to six newly created state utility consumer advocate offices, including D.C. The grants were to institutionalize grassroots participation in the citywide energy debate, forging a path of consumer engagement that has remained a hallmark of the agency to this day. Access to funding for building operations was critical in those early days as OPC fought to level the playing field on behalf of ratepayers against the powerful phone, electric, and gas companies. The grant facilitated the creation of a Consumer Utility Board (CUB).
Lederer also provided OPC a decisive advocacy role in challenging utility rate cases and facilitating the public’s ability to testify at community hearings.
Under his leadership, the agency succeeded in lowering off-peak electricity rates and preventing Pepco from charging customers for power plant construction costs before the plants went online to serve customers. This guaranteed that projects were providing “used and useful” service before the utilities could recover the costs. These policies are all still in place.