Prince George’s asks regulators to halt utility shutoffs in peak seasons and studies a county-owned grocery store

By Staff Reporter

LARGO, Md. — The Prince George’s County Council on Tuesday asked state regulators to bar utility shutoffs for vulnerable households during the hottest and coldest months, and heard the first findings of a study on whether the county should own a grocery store, in a county where a regional survey found more than half of residents struggled to afford or find enough food last year.

A request to the Public Service Commission

The council approved CR-081-2026, a resolution asking the Maryland Public Service Commission to impose a shutoff moratorium for low- and moderate-income households, some senior households and households with members who have certain medical conditions, according to the resolution’s text. It also asks the commission to examine what is driving recent rate increases, “with special attention on the role of data centers in neighboring communities,” along with the effects of last winter and this summer.

The resolution, sponsored by Councilmember Shayla Adams-Stafford and backed by Councilmember Danielle Hunter, seeks the pause from June through August and from December through February, WUSA9 reported. It was favorably recommended with amendments by the council’s Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee on Sept. 24 and deferred on Oct. 6 before Tuesday’s vote, according to the council’s agenda records compiled by DocketCity.

The resolution is a request. It does not itself stop any utility from disconnecting a customer; that power rests with the state commission.

“This really was born out of constituents coming to council saying, ‘Listen, we’re entering the coldest months of the year, and I’m really concerned. We’re unable to pay these skyrocketing bills,'” Adams-Stafford told WUSA9. She said utilities had told her they are beginning to expand payment plans and relief options, but that those programs “are going to take a while to get into place.”

“They should never have to choose between having food on the table or paying an electric bill,” Hunter said.

A county-owned grocery store, in theory

In a separate briefing, Arian Albear, the council’s director of legislative impact, presented a feasibility study on a county-owned grocery store, an idea Council Chair Krystal Oriadha proposed last year, the Baltimore Banner reported. The briefing was listed on the council’s Oct. 20 agenda.

The study recommended that the county form a task force to design a targeted pilot program, prioritize areas with limited access to supermarkets and consider a model that pairs public ownership with a private operator, according to the Banner. “The key question is how much public support would be necessary to achieve meaningful price reductions for residents, and whether that support could be clearly defined and limited,” Albear said.

Oriadha said she supports a pilot and plans to introduce a resolution creating an internal task force at next week’s meeting, the Banner reported. She told WUSA9 the county could explore selling some items at regulated prices and others at market rates. “We have the free market, but what does it also look like to have a grocery store that subsidizes where there are certain things that are regulated and some things that are sold at market rate,” she said.

Tuesday’s discussion was not a vote to open a store, choose a site or commit money, WUSA9 noted.

Officials pointed to New York City, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani plans five city-owned stores run by private operators by 2030 with $17 million in capital funding, according to Albear’s figures as reported by the Banner. A group sued in August to stop that project. In the District, Democratic mayoral nominee Janeese Lewis George has said a publicly owned grocery store would be an option if other approaches fail to serve neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River, the Banner reported.

The hunger numbers

The Capital Area Food Bank’s 2026 Hunger Report, released Sept. 15 and based on a survey conducted with NORC at the University of Chicago, found that 56% of Prince George’s residents experienced food insecurity between May 2025 and May 2026, the highest rate of any jurisdiction in the region. Arlington’s rate was 22%. Region-wide, 38% of respondents said they struggled to get enough food, or the right kinds of food, at some point during the year, up from 33% in 2022.

The council’s next legislative session is Tuesday, Oct. 27.

Photo: The produce section of a supermarket in Solomons, Md. Harrison Keely / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.