Cerise Turner has managed a remarkable feat: She hasn’t paid a utility bill in over two years. In fact, Pepco owes her money; a little over $1,300, to be exact. Thanks to several city programs, Turner added solar panels to her Petworth home and started selling excess energy back to the grid. Throw in some renewable energy tax credits and other renovations to make her home more energy efficient, and she’s saving tons of money each month: cash she says she desperately needs as a senior trying to make ends meet. So when Turner heard that Mayor Muriel Bowser’s 2026 budget would slash many of the same programs she utilized, she felt compelled to sound the alarm to the D.C. Council. …
