WASHINGTON — District of Columbia officials said Friday they continue to oppose an effort by Exelon Corp. and Pepco Holdings Inc. to salvage their $6.8?billion merger, but the deal is not dead, the power companies said.

District regulators have rejected the merger twice. After the second rejection, regulators offered a revised settlement. But Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser and other city officials said the settlement offer took away important protections for ratepayers and refused to support it.

Chicago-based Exelon and Washington-based Pepco proposed different settlement terms Monday, offering to give the District's Public Service Commission $20 million to use for customer discounts, aid for low-income customers or modernization of the power grid.

On Friday, the attorney general and the people's counsel for the District said they did not support the revised terms. Regulators could vote to accept the new deal without District officials' support. The commission has until April 7 to act.

“We hope the Public Service Commission will find a solution that secures all of the benefits for the District and Pepco's customers, and urge it to consider the alternatives we have outlined,” Pepco spokesman Vincent Morris said.

The merger has been approved by regulators in Maryland, three other states and the U.S. government. It would create the nation's largest electric utility.

Opponents say the deal would not benefit consumers and would harm the environment.