Governor Matt Meyer Signs Energy Consumer Protection Legislation

Governor Matt Meyer today signed a package of energy consumer protection bills aimed at addressing rising utility costs for Delaware families and businesses. The measures focus particularly on protecting ratepayers from costs associated with large energy users such as data centers. Governor Meyer said the legislation provides strong protections for Delaware ratepayers and ensures working people, seniors and small businesses will not be forced to subsidize the energy demands of large companies and data centers.

The bills include:

• House Bill 233: Creates a separate utility rate class for large energy-use facilities, such as data centers, requiring them to pay the full cost of infrastructure upgrades rather than shifting those costs to residential and small-business customers. Large users would also be prioritized for curtailment during grid emergencies unless they provide their own generation.
• House Bill 445: Requires large energy-use facilities to produce or secure 100 percent of their required power, including a share of clean or renewable energy, through a “bring your own generation” policy.
• House Bill 310: Prohibits large energy-use facilities from receiving job-creation business tax credits and license-fee reductions.
• Senate Bill 326: Increases oversight of non-mandatory capital expenditures by for-profit monopoly utilities, limiting costs that can be recovered from standard residential ratepayers.

All four bills take effect immediately.