Capital Program Planning for Delaware Electric Utilities

by | Oct 21, 2026

Delaware · Electric & Grid Utilities

Delaware imports most of its power — and PJM's capacity price just hit the cap.

Delaware generates less than half the electricity its customers use and buys the rest across a PJM grid where capacity prices have jumped nearly tenfold. Add offshore wind coming ashore, a 40%-by-2035 renewable target, and a pending Delmarva rate case, and every one of those forces reshuffles the projects on your capital list. Invizion helps electric utilities re-sequence a capital portfolio in a click — and defend every decision.

See how Invizion helps utilities See what Delaware utilities face Download the briefing (PDF)
The bottom line: Delaware imports most of its electricity across a PJM grid where capacity prices have hit the cap at $329.17/MW-day, even as offshore wind, a 40%-by-2035 renewable target, and a pending Delmarva rate case reshape the capital plan. The utilities that keep bills defensible will be the ones whose capital portfolios can re-sequence as fast as those forces move.
~58%1
Share of Delaware's electricity that is imported — the state generated 4.8M MWh in 2024 but used 11.4M MWh.
$329.172
PJM's 2026/2027 capacity price per MW-day — it cleared at the FERC-set cap.
312,0003
Delmarva Power electric customers in Delaware (Exelon).
1,048.5 MW4
US Wind offshore project approved off the Delaware/Maryland coast, landing in Sussex County.

The Delaware Landscape

Four forces are moving your project list at once

None of these is theoretical, and none of them waits for your next budget cycle. Together they mean the capital plan you approved last year may already be the wrong plan.

Demand — Load Growth

You import the load growth, then pay for it

Delaware generated only about 4.8 million MWh in 2024 — 49th in the nation — while its customers used more than 11.3 million MWh, so the state imports well over half its power across the PJM grid.1

That grid is where data-center demand is exploding: PJM's total capacity-auction cost jumped roughly eightfold, from about $2.2 billion to more than $16 billion, and in December 2025 PJM could not procure all the capacity it wanted for the first time.5 The growth may sit in Virginia, but the price lands on Delaware bills.

Reliability — Capacity & Peaks

Capacity prices at the cap, margins thinning

PJM's 2025/2026 auction cleared at $269.92 per MW-day, up from just $28.92 a year earlier, at a 18.6% reserve margin.6 The 2026/2027 auction then cleared at $329.17 per MW-day — the FERC-set price cap, without which it would have reached $388.57 — totaling about $16.1 billion.2

For a state that leans on imports for most of its supply,1 resource adequacy is bought in that market — and it is getting more expensive and less certain every year.

Generation — The Transition

Renewables and offshore wind on a capital clock

Delaware's Renewable Portfolio Standard requires 40% renewable energy by 2035, including a 10% solar carve-out, most recently amended by Senate Bill 265 in 2024.7

US Wind's 1,048.5 MW project off the Delaware/Maryland coast won federal (BOEM) approval in September 2024 and reached a $40 million community-benefits agreement with Delaware in January 2025, with power landing in Sussex County.4 As a founding RGGI state, Delaware also prices carbon on fossil plants of 25 MW and larger — another input to every generation decision.8

Capital — Grid & Recovery

Modernize and harden — then defend the recovery

Delmarva Power has a base-rate case pending at the Public Service Commission (Docket 25-1555) seeking roughly a $67.8 million increase to recover distribution investment.9

Because Delaware relies on the transmission grid to import most of its power,1 grid capacity, storm hardening, and interconnection for new solar, storage, and offshore wind all compete for the same capital — and each dollar has to be justified in front of regulators or a board.

Who Runs Delaware's Grid

One investor-owned utility, a large co-op, and nine municipals

Delaware's grid is carried by Exelon's Delmarva Power, the member-owned Delaware Electric Cooperative, and nine municipal electric departments organized through DEMEC. The pressures are shared; the accountability path differs.

Investor-owned utility

Distribution rates & capital recovery regulated by the Delaware PSC

Delmarva Power (Exelon) 312,000 electric customers in Delaware3
Delmarva Power — system-wide ~515,000 electric customers across DE & MD; 5,000 sq mi3
Pepco Holdings / Exelon Parent holding company; Delmarva is its Delaware electric operating utility3

Delmarva Power's Delaware distribution rates are set by the Public Service Commission, which is now reviewing a ~$67.8 million rate case (Docket 25-1555).9

Cooperative & public power

Governed by members & boards, not PSC rates

Delaware Electric Cooperative ~112,000 members serving 300,000+ people in Kent & Sussex; wholesale power via ODEC10
DEMEC (9 municipal utilities) 125,000+ customers · 460+ MW peak load11
Dover, Newark, Milford, Lewes & more Municipal departments; DEMEC operates the Warren F. Beasley plant12

DEMEC is a joint-action agency of nine community-owned utilities operating for more than 46 years.12

Rate-Setting & Oversight

Every capital dollar has to be defensible

Whether you answer to the Public Service Commission or a member board, the question is the same: why this project, why now, why at this cost?

  • Delaware Public Service Commission (PSC) regulates Delmarva Power's electric distribution rates and capital recovery; DEMEC and the Cooperative are not rate-regulated by the PSC.9
  • Delmarva Power rate case (Docket 25-1555) seeks roughly a $67.8 million increase — approvals are not a formality, and interim recovery is scrutinized.9
  • Delaware Electric Cooperative sets its own rates through an elected member board, and DEMEC's municipals set rates through their town councils and boards — public capital decisions made in front of ratepayers.1011
  • Renewable Portfolio Standard compliance (40% by 2035, 10% solar) is met through RECs and SRECs, adding a recurring cost line to every resource plan.7

Funding On The Table

The money is moving — can your plan absorb it?

Delaware utilities have more clean-energy and grid capital available than they have had in a generation. The constraint is readiness: which projects qualify, which are shovel-ready, and how the timing lines up.

  • RGGI cap-and-invest — as a founding member state, Delaware auctions CO₂ allowances and reinvests the proceeds (RGGI has generated over $4.7 billion regionally) in efficiency, renewables, and bill assistance.8
  • Delmarva Power Customer Relief Fund: $4.5M — a 2025 one-time contribution from Exelon to the Delaware Energy Fund, providing up to $300 per household in bill assistance.13
  • US Wind community-benefits agreement: $40M to Delaware (January 2025), tied to the offshore project landing in Sussex County.4
  • DOE Grid Resilience formula grants (IIJA §40101(d)) are administered through DNREC's State Energy Office for hardening and reliability projects statewide.14
  • IRA elective (direct) pay puts utility-scale solar and storage tax credits within reach of public power and cooperatives like DEMEC and Delaware Electric Cooperative — if projects are structured and sequenced to qualify.

Where Invizion Fits

Turn Delaware's grid build-out into a defensible capital plan

Invizion is scenario-based capital portfolio optimization built for utilities. When load forecasts jump, a grant lands, or a retirement date moves, you don't re-plan by hand for weeks — you model it and decide with a record to stand behind.

1

Model the “what-if” before it's forced on you

A data-center interconnect, a delayed transmission line, a moved retirement date — build the scenario and see the impact on the whole portfolio, side by side with today's plan.

2

Re-sequence 500 projects in a click

When priorities move, Invizion re-orders the portfolio automatically — accelerating, stretching, or deferring projects against the constraints you set, not weeks of spreadsheet surgery.

3

Give regulators or your board a defensible record

Every prioritization and trade-off is captured. When you're asked “why this project, why now,” the answer is documented — not reconstructed after the fact.

Delaware's Grid, In Brief

Questions Delaware utility leaders are asking

Short, sourced answers — the same facts we dig into with utilities looking at their capital programs.

Why are Delaware electric bills rising so fast?
Delaware imports well over half its power across the PJM grid, where capacity-auction costs jumped roughly eightfold to more than $16 billion. The 2026/2027 auction cleared at the FERC price cap of $329.17 per MW-day, up from $28.92 two years earlier.152
How much of Delaware's electricity does it generate itself?
Only about 4.8 million MWh in 2024 — 49th nationally — against more than 11.3 million MWh used, so roughly 58% is imported. Natural gas is the leading in-state generation source.1
What is happening with offshore wind off Delaware?
US Wind's 1,048.5 MW project off the Delaware/Maryland coast won federal (BOEM) approval in September 2024 and reached a $40 million community-benefits agreement with Delaware in January 2025, with power coming ashore in Sussex County.4
Who regulates my utility's rates in Delaware?
The Public Service Commission regulates Delmarva Power's distribution rates — it is now reviewing a ~$67.8 million case (Docket 25-1555). Delaware Electric Cooperative and DEMEC's nine municipal utilities set their own rates through boards and councils.91011
What clean-energy targets and funding shape the capital plan?
Delaware's RPS requires 40% renewables by 2035 with a 10% solar carve-out. Funding levers include RGGI proceeds, a $4.5 million Delmarva Customer Relief Fund, the US Wind $40 million agreement, and DOE Grid Resilience formula grants via DNREC.7813414
How does Invizion help Delaware electric utilities plan capital?
Invizion is scenario-based capital portfolio optimization for utilities. It lets you model how a PJM capacity-cost spike, an offshore-wind interconnection, a grant, or a rate-case outcome reshuffles your whole project list, re-sequence the portfolio automatically, and keep a defensible record of every decision for the PSC or your board.

Go Deeper

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About the Author

GB

Guy Barlow

President, Invizion

Guy Barlow leads Invizion, a capital lifecycle management platform for water and wastewater utilities. He has spent two decades at the intersection of utility capital programs, funding, and analytics, helping utilities make faster, more defensible capital decisions.

Explore Further

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Invizion helps utilities model, optimize, and defend their capital programs. Explore how it works, or read our latest thinking on capital planning across the utility sector.

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This briefing was last reviewed September 2026.

Sources

  1. U.S. Energy Information Administration — Delaware Electricity Profile 2024: net generation 4,799,212 MWh (49th), total retail sales 11,373,916 MWh, natural gas primary source, avg. 13.56 cents/kWh. www.eia.gov
  2. PJM Interconnection — 2026/2027 Base Residual Auction Report: RTO cleared $329.17/MW-day (at the price cap; $388.57 uncapped), ~$16.1B, 18.9% reserve margin. www.pjm.com
  3. Delmarva Power / Wikipedia — 312,000 Delaware electric customers, ~515,000 system-wide across DE & MD, 5,000-sq-mi territory, Exelon subsidiary. en.wikipedia.org
  4. US Wind / Wikipedia — 1,048.5 MW (MarWin 248 MW + Momentum Wind 800.5 MW), BOEM approval Sept 2024, $40M Delaware community-benefits agreement Jan 2025. en.wikipedia.org
  5. PJM Interconnection / Wikipedia — capacity-auction cost rose from ~$2.2B to over $16B (~8x); December 2025 auction fell short of full procurement; data-center demand growth. en.wikipedia.org
  6. PJM Interconnection — 2025/2026 Base Residual Auction Report: RTO cleared $269.92/MW-day (up from $28.92), ~$14.7B, 18.6% reserve margin. www.pjm.com
  7. Delaware DNREC — Renewable Portfolio Standard: 40% renewables by 2035 with a 10% solar carve-out (26 Del. C. §351–364; amended by SB 265, 2024). dnrec.delaware.gov
  8. Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative / Wikipedia — Delaware is a founding RGGI member; cap-and-trade on plants ≥25 MW; over $4.7B in cumulative regional proceeds. en.wikipedia.org
  9. Delaware Public Service Commission — regulates Delmarva Power distribution; Delmarva rate case Docket 25-1555, ~$67.8M proposed increase. depsc.delaware.gov
  10. Delaware Electric Cooperative / Wikipedia — ~112,000 members serving 300,000+ people in Kent & Sussex counties; wholesale power via Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC). en.wikipedia.org
  11. Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation / Wikipedia — joint-action agency of nine municipal electric departments; 125,000+ customers; 460+ MW peak load; Smyrna generation. en.wikipedia.org
  12. DEMEC — nine community-owned utilities (Newark, New Castle, Middletown, Clayton, Smyrna, Dover, Milford, Lewes, Seaford), operating 46+ years; Warren F. Beasley Power Plant. www.demecinc.net
  13. Energize Delaware — Delmarva Power Customer Relief Fund: $4.5M one-time Exelon contribution to the Delaware Energy Fund (2025), up to $300/household. energizedelaware.org
  14. Delaware DNREC State Energy Office — administers the 40101(d) Grid Resilience Grant Program (IIJA) and the 2024 Delaware Energy Plan. dnrec.delaware.gov