It's hard to believe it's only been two months since the COVID-19 crisis began sweeping through our communities. However, this pandemic has also illuminated why our vision for an accessible and just solar transition is necessary. It hasn't been easy to adjust to our new landscape, the future has looked bleak and uncertain while the conditions for how we take action have shifted dramatically. Despite all of this, we have continued to keep the pressure on PECO.

Horns blaring and banners flying, EQAT took action today while Exelon executives insisted to shareholders that their profits are sacrosanct.

A word about COVID-19: We should be taking all possible precautions, and we can hold those who are impacted even more than others in our hearts: those who are disabled, have compromised immune systems, are struggling to keep up with child care or have to go to work, who lost or will lose jobs, and those who are on the front lines of caring for all who are ill.

This moment is also reminding us of the life and death stakes we are fighting for in our campaign. We need to transform our energy system so that shut offs are a thing of the past, so that air pollution and climate change are no longer endangering public health, and so that everyone has a good job.

March is a big month.

PECO will be submitting its Default Service Program (DSP) to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), which will show how it plans to buy its electricity over the next two to four years. Why does this matter? Because the DSP will indicate whether PECO has committed to a plan towards 20% local solar by 2025, or if it will continue to choose its profit over climate and the people of this region.

We can tell because we were informed late on Friday by PECO VP, Tony Gay, that PECO was cancelling a meeting we had scheduled with Exelon CEO, Chris Crane for today.

For 3.5 years we’ve been targeting PECO to get them to increase to 20% solar by 2025, creating thousands of jobs that prioritize employing those from low-income communities and communities of color historically cut out from development in Philadelphia.

PECO has a problem. In March, severe storms fueled by the warming arctic caused as many outages as Hurricane Sandy. And chronic smog is getting worse in every county in our metro region and South Jersey. The culprit? Climate change and dirty power, with emissions from fossil fuels trapped in ever hotter air.

Yet instead of cleaning up its electricity and using solar to bring new jobs and lower bills to impoverished neighborhoods, PECO is maneuvering for a rate increase.

One by one each volunteer stepped up to the shallow pans of water. Against a backdrop of security personnel, each one carefully leaned on two supporters and allowed a third to remove their shoes and socks and gently wash their feet. Eighteen times, Rev. Holston of POWER lay his hands on their backs and offered a blessing. They carried the blessings of all of us as they faced arrest to interrupt PECO's daily profit from dirty energy, and demand transformation for green jobs and justice.

At a powerful action on Tuesday, March 27, more than 60 members of the Power Local Green Jobs Campaign processed in silence to PECO headquarters. Our action was a Day of Mourning for the lives and opportunities lost because of PECO’s continued reliance on fossil fuels. These losses are not abstract. In front of the largest utility in our state, we heard personal stories about children struggling with painful asthma, neighbors trying to foster community in the midst of oil refinery pollution, and Philadelphians struggling with poverty because of the lack of good jobs. We honored this loss with religious symbolism from different traditions - tearing of fabric, wailing, dance, and the mourner’s kaddish.

On December 7, the Big Change for Green Jobs day of action brought 240 elders, youth, faith leaders, and community groups to PECO locations across the region.

It's been clear for a while that PECO is accustomed to delaying change through small steps and short-lived programs. The company has been prepared to dodge and delay for many years while the most damaging and oppressive impacts of dirty energy continue to fall on vulnerable communities.