Delaware House passes bills to protect residents from data center energy costs
The Delaware House has passed two bills, HB 233 (S) and HB 445, aimed at protecting residents and small businesses from the energy costs associated with large energy-use facilities like data centers. These bills, now heading to the Senate, propose requiring data centers to bear the full cost of new energy infrastructure and to gradually produce or procure their own energy. The legislation seeks to address concerns about rising energy prices, grid strain, and infrastructure upgrades caused by high energy consumption.
The Delaware House has passed two significant bills, HB 233 (S) and HB 445, designed to safeguard energy reliability and prevent the costs associated with large energy-use facilities, such as data centers, from being transferred to residents and small businesses. Both bills are now awaiting consideration in the Delaware Senate.
Lawmakers emphasized the potential strain data centers could place on the state's grid, noting that a single data center could consume 8.7 million megawatt hours annually, compared to the state's total residential and business consumption of 11.3 million megawatt hours. This concern led to the introduction of HB 233 (S), which mandates a comprehensive framework to shield Delaware ratepayers. Specifically, it would require large energy-use facilities to fully cover the costs of any new energy infrastructure they necessitate and to pay for increased capacity market costs, which cannot be passed onto other customers.
The legislation also directs Public Service Commission-regulated utilities, like Delmarva Power, to establish separate rate structures and service agreements for these facilities to protect existing customers from rate shifts. Facilities would be barred from connecting to the grid until these agreements and rate structures are approved. Additionally, the Public Service Commission would assess the impact of rate applications on customer costs, grid reliability, and the state's renewable energy goals.
HB 445 complements the first bill by requiring large energy-use facilities, including data centers, to produce or procure new energy sources. These facilities would need to submit a plan demonstrating how they will gradually increase energy production to meet 100% of their needs within 10 years of operation. Lawmakers stated that these combined measures would ensure data centers in Delaware contribute their fair share to utility costs.