Delaware Needs More Power, Not More Mandates

August 24, 2026

Delaware Senate Republicans

Delaware families and businesses have experienced extremely high energy bills over the past couple of years.

During the coldest stretches of last winter, electricity usage understandably increased as families and businesses worked to keep their homes and buildings warm. That higher usage contributed to higher bills. But for many Delmarva Power customers, the increases were far more dramatic than simply using more electricity.

Our offices heard from constituents who received electric bills exceeding $1,000, with some reporting bills that were two or three times what they would normally pay.

That experience deserves more than an explanation of how much electricity someone used. It deserves a serious conversation about the policies that determine how Delaware generates and purchases electricity, what those policies cost ratepayers, and whether they are helping us build the generation we need for the future.

Small charges still add up

One response we frequently hear when discussing Delaware’s energy mandates is that individual costs aren’t significant.

An Alternative Compliance Payment might only amount to a few dollars on a particular bill. Another program or surcharge might add another $10 or $20. On their own, those amounts may not seem particularly large.

But families don’t pay each line item separately. They pay the total.

When grocery prices remain elevated, gasoline costs are putting pressure on household budgets, and families are already dealing with higher costs across the board, telling a Delaware family that another $20 charge “isn’t that much” misses the point.

Small costs add up, especially when they are the result of policies the General Assembly has the ability to change.

And Delaware’s energy policies have created a growing number of those costs.

The RPS has a real cost

One of the clearest examples is Delaware’s Renewable Portfolio Standard.

Senate Bill 33, signed into law in 2021, increased the renewable energy requirement for Delaware’s electric suppliers. Republicans warned at the time that the mandate would increase costs for ratepayers and create challenges for utilities trying to comply.

Those concerns were not theoretical.

Delmarva Power has repeatedly been unable to meet the renewable requirement and has therefore made Alternative Compliance Payments. In 2025 alone, Delmarva Power customers paid $14,370,700 through these payments, with the money going into DNREC’s green energy fund.

We understand the technical distinction. An Alternative Compliance Payment is not a fine for illegal conduct, rather it is a compliance mechanism written into state law.

But the practical reality is straightforward: if Delaware did not require a certain percentage of electricity to come from qualifying renewable resources, there would be no renewable quota to fall short of and no Alternative Compliance Payment to make.

The name doesn’t change who ultimately bears the cost.

Senate and House Republicans responded by introducing legislation to address the problem.

House Bill 80, sponsored by Rep. Mike Smith and Sen. Eric Buckson, would have significantly reduced the state’s renewable mandate. Sen. Gerald Hocker’s SS1 for Senate Bill 64 would have returned money to ratepayers. These were efforts to provide direct relief while reconsidering policies that are adding costs to Delaware’s electricity system.

RGGI is another cost we need to address

The Renewable Portfolio Standard is not the only policy affecting energy costs.

Delaware joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, in 2008. The program requires participating power plants to purchase allowances for their carbon emissions.

Republicans have proposed getting Delaware out of RGGI because we believe Delaware ratepayers should not be forced to absorb additional costs from policies that make it more difficult and expensive to generate electricity.

Again, the argument isn’t that any one program is solely responsible for a family’s electric bill.

It is that Delaware has layered policy after policy onto an electricity system that already faces growing demand. If we want lower bills, we need to take a serious look at every policy that makes electricity more expensive and ask whether the benefit justifies the cost.

We also need more generation

Reducing unnecessary costs is only part of the solution.

Delaware needs more electricity generation.

Demand is increasing. Data centers and other large electricity users are adding significant new demand to the PJM system, while existing generation faces increasing pressure. At the same time, some dependable sources of electricity have been retired or placed under increasing regulatory pressure.

We believe Delaware should have a diverse energy portfolio that includes renewable energy, natural gas, nuclear power and other reliable sources of generation.

That is why Republicans supported and introduced legislation aimed at increasing the amount of dependable electricity available to Delaware.

House Bill 186, introduced by Rep. Kevin Hensley and Sen. Brian Pettyjohn, would have created a targeted, capped tax credit to encourage the construction of up to three high-efficiency combined-cycle natural gas power plants. The goal was straightforward: bring additional dependable generation onto the system, improve energy security and help stabilize prices.

Senators Gerald Hocker and Brian Pettyjohn have also been working with stakeholders on what it would take to bring the Indian River Power Plant back online, potentially putting an existing generating facility back to work for Delaware.

We also support nuclear energy as part of Delaware’s long-term energy strategy. Nuclear power provides reliable, around-the-clock generation without the same carbon emissions associated with fossil fuels, and Delaware should not rule out any viable source of dependable electricity as we look at how to meet future demand.

And Republicans have not opposed renewable energy simply because it is renewable. In 2021, our caucus unanimously supported community solar legislation through Senate Bill 2, expanding renewable options while recognizing the importance of maintaining a reliable electric grid.

The goal should not be to pick one energy source and eliminate everything else.

The goal should be more electricity, more reliability, and lower costs.

Data centers should help provide the power they consume

The rapid growth of data centers presents another challenge.

These facilities can consume enormous amounts of electricity, creating substantial new demand on the PJM grid and across the nation. Delaware should welcome investment and economic development, but we should not ask existing ratepayers to shoulder the cost of energy necessary to serve these massive electricity users.

That is why Senate Republicans supported House Bill 445, legislation that passed the Senate unanimously.

The bill requires qualifying data centers to produce or procure sufficient generation to meet 100% of their annual energy needs, with requirements for new generation, clean energy resources, and backup power. It also provides mechanisms for data centers that cannot immediately meet the full requirement to work toward doing so.

The principle is one we strongly support: if a company is going to consume enormous amounts of electricity, it should be part of the solution for producing that electricity.

We should not continue adding demand to the grid while expecting existing Delaware families and businesses to absorb the cost.

The path forward

There is no single bill that will solve Delaware’s energy challenges, but there are concrete steps we can take.

We can reduce or eliminate mandates that unnecessarily increase the cost of electricity. We can pursue an exit from RGGI. We can encourage the construction of new natural gas generation. We can keep nuclear energy on the table. We can look for ways to bring existing generating facilities back online. We can make sure massive new electricity users contribute to the generation needed to serve them.

Most importantly, we can create an environment where companies actually want to build power generation in Delaware.

More generation means more supply. More supply means greater reliability and, over time, downward pressure on prices.

That is the direction we believe Delaware needs to take.

The 153rd General Assembly demonstrated that there are Republicans in the General Assembly willing to propose real solutions and support good ideas regardless of which side of the aisle they originate from.

We will continue fighting for policies that increase power generation, strengthen the reliability of our electric grid, and lower the cost of keeping the lights on for Delaware families and businesses.

Delaware does not need more energy mandates that make electricity more expensive.

We need more power.