Last-minute amendment would blunt bill meant to lower energy bills in Delaware

Why Should Delaware Care?
Delmarva Power is the largest energy provider in the state, serving more than 300,000 customers. Proposed limits on its infrastructure spending could help lower energy bills in the long run. But the company argues those limits would hurt reliability. 

The Delaware House of Representatives may be gearing up for a fight after the House Majority Leader filed a last-minute amendment that would blunt a bill meant to lower energy prices. 

Senate Bill 326 in its original form would limit Delmarva Power’s spending on non-mandatory infrastructure projects, among other provisions. The bill’s official summary states that such spending is a “major driver of rate increases.”

But an amendment to that bill, filed Monday night by Democratic Majority Leader Kerri Evelyn Harris (D-Dover), would take away that spending cap. As an alternative, Harris filed a resolution that calls for regulators to “closely examine” non-mandatory spending and suggests a 25% reduction by 2028. 

The bill’s sponsor Sen. Stephanie Hansen (D-Middletown) declined to comment on the amendment. 

But at a press conference earlier this month, Hansen said that Delmarva Power is spending more than it needs on infrastructure, in order to make additional profits from the investments. 

Then it passes those costs onto ratepayers, she said.

“There is evidence to show that overspending… is taking place, and it’s taking place as part of a corporate strategy to increase profits,” Hansen said. 

Harris said she filed the amendment because the original bill did not have enough votes to get out of the House Natural Resources & Energy Committee so it could be heard by the full House of Representatives. 

She said she drafted this new proposal after speaking with members of the committee and Delmarva Power representatives. 

Delmarva Power has been staunchly against Hansen’s bill in its original form, with the company’s Region President Marcus Beal saying that the term “non-mandatory” is a misnomer. He also argued that Senate Bill 326 would limit Delmarva Power’s ability to do infrastructure projects that improve grid reliability. 

“We can see ourselves put in a place where we’re unable to do what we’re mandated to do in the state, if we’re capped,” Beal said. “And that does hurt jobs, it does hurt the company.”

Harris said the new proposal would allow the Public Service Commission to individually consider non-mandatory infrastructure projects to determine if they were necessary. She confirmed that it does not give the commission any additional powers but is instead a “suggestion” for how to move forward. 

She said the House could still pass the bill in its original form and that either proposal would put more oversight on Delmarva Power, helping lower electricity bills in the long run. 

“Either way, the constituents don’t lose,” Harris said.