Delaware’s Energy Policies Are Failing Ratepayers

January 6, 2026

Delaware Senate Republicans

For many Delaware families and small businesses, energy costs have gone from a line item in the monthly budget to a genuine financial strain. Over the past several weeks especially, our offices have been contacted by constituents, particularly Delmarva Power & Light customers, sharing photos of electric bills sometimes exceeding $1,000. In most cases, those bills are well over double or triple what they typically pay.

We saw this in 2025 as well, so this isn’t a fluke and it isn’t the result of increased usage alone. It’s the predictable outcome of energy policies passed in Dover that prioritize ideology over affordability and reliability.

Why This Is Hitting DP&L Customers Hardest

Before we go any further, it needs to be noted that Delmarva Power & Light is the only regulated electric provider in Delaware, and therefore the only provider directly subject to the Renewable Portfolio Standard and other mandates.

Others, such as Delaware Electric Cooperative and DEMEC, are not regulated by the Public Service Commission and are not bound by the same requirements. While their customers have experienced higher bills due to increased usage, those increases have been nowhere near what DP&L customers are seeing.

The contrast is hard to ignore. When only one group of ratepayers is subject to a specific set of state-imposed mandates, and those same customers are seeing dramatically higher bills, the logical conclusion is that bad policy plays a role.

Mandates, Penalties, and Hidden Costs

In 2021, Democrats passed SB 33, significantly increasing Delaware’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) and requiring regulated utilities like Delmarva Power & Light to generate or procure 25% of their electricity from renewable sources. Since the law took effect, DP&L has repeatedly told our caucus it is unable to meet that mandate.

That failure is not the utility’s fault. The requirement itself is simply unattainable under current market and infrastructure realities.

When utilities cannot meet the RPS mandate, they are forced to pay “alternative compliance payments” (fines) that are then passed directly on to ratepayers. These costs are embedded in DP&L electric bills under the “Wind & Solar” component.

Since 2023, DP&L ratepayers have paid more than $40 million in these penalties. In 2025 alone, customers paid $14.37 million, with those funds deposited into DNREC’s green energy fund. None of that money lowers electric bills. All of it comes out of the pockets of Delawareans.

Despite our caucus’s request, as of this writing, DNREC has not provided us with the amount of money in the Green Energy Fund.

Warnings That Were Ignored

Senate and House Republicans, along with energy stakeholders and advocacy organizations, warned on the record that SB 33 and similar mandates would increase energy bills. Those warnings were dismissed. Today, families are paying the price.

While we agree that Delmarva Power’s most recent rate increase should not be approved, it is important to be honest about how we got here. They have been backed into a corner by state mandates that demand results without providing a workable path to achieve them.

Republicans Have Offered Real Relief

Republicans have not just raised concerns, we’ve also put forward solutions. Through proposals like SS1 for SB 64, HB 80, and related legislation, Senate and House Republicans have worked to reduce RPS mandates, return money directly to ratepayers, and provide meaningful energy cost relief.

We believe Delaware can pursue cleaner energy without forcing families to choose between keeping the lights on and paying other household bills.

The Grid Is Under Growing Strain

At the same time these mandates are squeezing supply, demand on the regional PJM grid is skyrocketing. One major driver: energy-hungry AI data centers that consume enormous amounts of electricity. Basic economics tells us what happens next—when demand increases and supply is constrained, prices rise.

Democrats’ race to “net-zero” has accelerated the closure of reliable, baseload power sources without a realistic plan to replace them. The result is a fragile grid, higher costs, and growing uncertainty.

Republicans have long supported a diverse energy portfolio, one that includes traditional baseload generation, nuclear energy, and renewables. This isn’t an all-or-nothing debate. It’s about balance, reliability, and realism.

A Better Path Forward

Republicans have consistently supported policies that strengthen the grid while keeping energy affordable:

• SCR 18 created the Delaware Nuclear Energy Feasibility Task Force, which is currently exploring how nuclear energy, including small modular reactors, could be deployed in our state. We are also examining whether large data centers should be required to generate power on-site to reduce strain on the grid.

  
  

• Senators Hocker and Pettyjohn are actively engaging with stakeholders to determine what it would take to bring the Indian River Power Plant back online.

  
  

• Representative Mike Smith and Senator Eric Buckson introduced HB 80, which would roll back the RPS to 10% for 10 years, which would allow time for renewable energy sources to come online.

  
  

• Representative Kevin Hensley and Senator Pettyjohn introduced HB 186, which creates a targeted, capped tax credit to incentivize the construction of up to three high-efficiency combined-cycle natural gas power plants in Delaware. The goal is to add dependable, dispatchable baseload power to the grid, improve energy security, reduce transmission costs, and help stabilize prices while encouraging redevelopment of brownfield and former power plant sites, higher efficiency standards, and optional carbon-capture technology.

  
  

• In 2021, our caucus unanimously supported SB 2, community solar legislation that expanded renewable options without imposing unrealistic mandates.

Ideology vs. Reality

Energy policy should be grounded in facts, not wishful thinking. Delawareans deserve reliable electricity at prices they can afford rather than mandates that sound good on paper, but fail in practice.

Republicans will continue to fight for energy policies that protect ratepayers, strengthen the grid, and allow innovation to flourish without sacrificing affordability. Delaware can do better and we’re committed to making sure it does.