DOVER — The Delaware Division of the Public Advocate was established in 1978 to represent customer interests whenever Public Service Commission-regulated utility companies seek to change the delivery of services or rates.
On April 21, it released a report providing a review of Delmarva Power’s residential electricity costs.
Laying the groundwork for further findings, it found an overall increase in rates for residential nonheating and residential heating customers since 2005.
The report divides the rates into three components: distribution, supply and transmission.
The data was sourced from compliance filings, tariff sheets, orders and infrastructure, and safety and reliability reports. These documents were all marked as public, according to the advocate’s office.
Distribution rates have doubled for residential customers in the last 20 years, driven by significant increases in infrastructure spending, the review found. These prices account for the costs of operating, maintaining and improving Delmarva Power’s local distribution grid.
Prior to January 2026, the Delaware Public Service Commission — a five-member board appointed by the governor and approved by the state Senate — used the “business judgment” standard to determine which infrastructure investments could be recovered through customer base rates.
Delaware was one of the only states using this standard, which gives significant deference to utilities and limits the commission’s ability to deny cost recovery — as long as the decisions were found to be in the utility’s reasonable business judgment.
The weakness of this method was that the utility could overbuild its facilities. For example, it could substantiate the need for a $3 million upgrade, when a $1 million expansion would have been adequate.
However, this was changed by 2025’s Senate Bill 59, which adopted a “prudence” method instead.
Before then, the report found, the commission awarded $153 million in increases in distribution revenue since 2009 — altogether about 47% lower, on average, than the amount requested.
Supply rates were found to have declined between 2010 and 2020. But, since 2021, the prices doubled for both residential classes, according to the advocate’s office.
For residential nonheating customers, summer rates have increased 114% since 2021, and winter rates have increased 92% since that year, the report continues.
For residential heating clients, summer rates have risen 114% since 2021, and winter rates have gone up 97% since that time, the advocate found.
Transmission rates showed little variation from 2014 through ’20. However, since then, these rates increased 93.5% for both classes.
Delmarva Power filed its latest rate increase request in December 2025, seeking an annual boost in revenue from customers of $67.8 million.
The advocate’s office stated April 6 that it believes Delmarva Power has not followed the process required by The Delaware Energy Act for such programs and has asked the Public Service Commission to dismiss the December request.
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