Why Should Delaware Care?
Delmarva Power is the largest energy provider in the state, serving more than 300,000 customers. If its rate increase request are approved by regulators, customers will see higher monthly bills.
Electric bills for Delmarva Power customers in Delaware are going to increase, again.
Last week, Delmarva Power officials notified state energy regulators that they will raise the average home’s electricity bill by $15 a month, citing a need to pass along higher energy supply costs.
While the increase is formally characterized as a request to energy regulators, Delmarva Power and state officials say it will very likely be approved because of its pass-through nature.
The increase is one of two that will result in higher energy bills for consumers in 2026.
In December, Delmarva Power requested an increase in the amount of profits it can legally earn in the state, which will result in a 4% jump in electricity rates in July. Delaware regulators may ultimately reject the increase — or lower it — at a later date, which would lead to refunds of any excess payments.
Delmarva Power Region President Marcus Beal previously told Spotlight Delaware that the company needs the additional money to pay for upgrades to the utility’s aging electric infrastructure.
In an interview Tuesday, Beal noted that last week’s price increase differs significantly from the one filed in December because the supply costs are “the side of the bill that we don’t control.”
As a regulated, for-profit utility, Delmarva Power is allowed to operate as a monopoly provider of energy in much of the state. To have that status, the company has to submit formal requests to regulators at the Delaware Public Service Commission when it wants to raise electricity or natural gas rates.
Delaware Public Advocate Jameson Tweedie fits into the system as the formal proponent for the interests of electricity customers.
In a statement, Tweedie’s office said it will not oppose last week’s rate increase request because it “has no reason to think” that a previous energy auction that returned higher wholesale electricity costs was unfair.
Still, Tweedie has said he will oppose Delmarva Power’s December rate increase request, arguing it is unfair to increase the utility’s profits while customers are struggling to pay rapidly rising energy bills.
A typical residential electricity customer in Delaware sees an average monthly bill of $157, a Delmarva Power spokesperson said. The two rate increase requests combined would increase those bills by about 13%, or $21, beginning in July.
Delmarva Power supplies electricity to 344,000 residential or commercial customers in Delaware, making it the state’s largest private utility. It also provides natural gas to a smaller number of customers in the state.
GET INVOLVED
Delaware residents can make their voices heard about Delmarva Power’s latest request by submitting public comments online here. To do so, commenters should include the rate increase’s docket number, 26-0389, in the online form.
Comments can also be made at the beginning of Delaware Public Service Commission meetings. Commission spokesman Matt Hartigan said Delmarva Power’s latest request will likely be heard on April 22.
Customers struggling to pay higher energy bills can use Delmarva Power’s Assistance Finder search tool to apply for energy assistance programs and community resources.
What’s behind the rate increases?
Delmarva Power’s rate increase request follows an electricity supply auction that produced high prices that were the result of growing electricity demand that hasn’t been matched by new power supplies, Beal said.
In essence, the imbalance in supply and demand has driven up the cost of electricity, which is then passed on to consumers.
That imbalance has been growing over the past few years and much of the regional increase in demand has come from big energy users, such as data centers.
The latest rate increase request comes a year and half after another regional electricity auction sparked a backlash from state governors, consumer advocates and environmentalists who called on the industry-run grid operator — PJM Interconnection — to enact sweeping reforms, including faster approvals of proposed wind and solar projects.
Delaware is in the same regional electricity grid as Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, which have all seen a boom of new construction of data centers because of the growing computing demands from artificial intelligence applications.
Separately, Delmarva Power said in December that it is currently working with five developers to build data centers in Delaware.
Of those, one is an “early stage prospect.” The others are showing “more advanced interest,” according to the company.
If all are approved, the data centers would nearly double the current electricity demand of all homes and industry in the entire state
Beal said Delmarva Power will have to provide power to any data center customers that come to the state, despite the staggering new energy demands they would bring.
“We are required by law to serve all customers. We cannot discriminate,” Beal said.
