By Michael Brooks

A Maryland circuit court judge Wednesday declined to stay Exelon’s acquisition of Pepco Holdings Inc. while it considers an appeal from the state’s Office of People’s Counsel.

In June, OPC appealed the Maryland Public Service Commission’s 3-2 decision to approve the $6.8 billion deal in Queen Anne’s County Circuit Court. It was joined by Public Citizen, the Sierra Club and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. In late July the parties jointly filed a motion to stay the deal while the appeal process continued.

“It’s a denial of the motion to stay, but our appeal obviously goes forward,” People’s Counsel Paula Carmody told the Baltimore Business Journal.

“We are pleased the judge agreed with our view that the requests for a stay had no merit,” Exelon spokesman Paul Adams said in a statement.

Along with the Maryland PSC, regulators in Delaware, New Jersey and Virginia have approved the acquisition, as has FERC. Only the D.C. Public Service Commission has yet to rule on the deal. Exelon has said it expects the deal to close by the end of the third quarter this year.

Carmody told the Journal that oral arguments in the appeal are scheduled in December and acknowledged this would mean that arguments could take place after the deal is closed.