He explains.

Of the $105 million less that we are saying that PEPCO should be authorized to increase rates, Approximately $75 million are attributable to its cost of the profits, which is the regulatory set return on equity.

Most of that results from a reduction in the return on equity from PEPCO's request of 10.5%.

to our recommendation based on objective factors to 7.7%.

A portion of that just over 75 million is attributable to a change in what we call the equity ratio.

And that's the amount of equity versus the amount of debt, which is adopted by the commission as a fiction.

based on their request because Pepco does not issue stock itself.

Is there a difference between the Public Service Commission mandated rate of return and what they are telling investors, and that rate of return is different?

Why is that important to you? Why do you do this? Why is it, you know, kind of more than just a, a nice thing to do? You know, kind of how do you really see that impacting how you're retaining your volunteers and that they're, you know, reliable and, you know, showing up for their shifts that they've signed up for, right? And, and that they're happy to volunteer and are really dedicated, you know, long-term to your cause.

cause.Yeah. What we, we see, you know, a happy volunteer is a dedicated volunteer.

A, a volunteer that, that understands the impact that they're making, is somebody that's gonna keep showing up for the job, is g- is gonna keep serving, is gonna bring his friends out.

Uh, they're gonna, you know...

Yeah.

And, and, and we have, you know, we have volunteers that, you know, if, if we need a last-minute volunteer, you know, we can reach out and say, "Hey, could you fill a shift?" And, and, you know, sometimes they can, sometimes they can't.

But what we've seen is the more we can engage our volunteers and invite them into the organization as a part of the organization, the more value they bring to the organization and the more they become a part of the organization, where it's not just about what we're doing as Blessings of Hope staff or as Blessings of Hope founders, it's what we're doing as a community, and it's about what...

Kind of how are you approaching that, you know, appreciation and, and engagement from those different lenses in addition to what you're already doing with, you know, kind of getting to know your volunteers?

He says growing up in an Amish community led him to think there's a better way.

The Amish have, uh, a wonderful genius for trying to live at peace with one another.

And so I think that there's an element of just w- what I grew up with, but I remember a conversation with a neighbor, uh, who voted for Trump and he, um, you know, said, "I don't know if I could talk to somebody from Black Lives Matter.

They just seem way too extreme." And I just remember thinking, "No, actually, I think you could."

Um, but then when people start to talk about, like, their viewpoints, it became obvious that, like, we don't really fit in those boxes like that.

Mm-hmm.

And we have been really able to give people some tools, some skills, some ideas of how to have these, uh, conversations in constructive ways.

And I think it's inspired hope among people who participate in these things.