Delaware consumers have faced soaring electricity prices this winter—something experts and lawmakers are warning is a harbinger of more dramatic price hikes as the state implements aggressive green energy policies. [emphasis, links added]
According to electric bills reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon and local news reports, electric bills have skyrocketed by hundreds of dollars and—in some cases—by as much as 350 percent in recent months.
Leigh Rieley, a Washington, D.C., resident who owns a fixer-upper house with her husband in their hometown in southeast Delaware, shared her recent electric bills with the Free Beacon.
In January, Rieley and her husband saw a staggering month-over-month price hike of 359 percent.
“We were very surprised to see it go from like 90 bucks to nearly 400 and, we’re not in it—no one is using the house,” she told the Free Beacon.
Rieley’s neighbors and nearby family have experienced identical price shocks, she said. Another resident, Maria Cordona, told Delaware Online that her January bill was over $1,200.
The unexpected price increases in Delaware come as the state experiences extremely low temperatures and as it continues to enforce green energy power production mandates.
In 2021, the state passed rules forcing 40 percent of power production to be green by 2035 despite being one of the most fossil-fuel-dependent states in the country.
As part of those rules, the state’s main utility company, Delmarva Power, must import a large amount of electricity produced by wind and solar sources or purchase renewable energy credits from other states in the region. Unable to find enough credits to meet the state’s mandates, Delmarva has paid $26 million in fines since the rules were enacted.
“Based on Delaware law, we are required to meet the state’s renewable energy requirements by incorporating a blend of renewable resources into the energy procured and passed along to customers,” a Delmarva spokesman said in a statement.
The spokesman, though, blamed the recent price increases on colder-than-expected temperatures and said the impact of green energy policies is minimal.
Still, the situation—which has emerged as a key political issue, resulted in packed town halls where angry citizens have voiced concerns and have led to the creation of a petition against Delmarva and a local Facebook group named “Delmarva Power Victims” with more than 14,400 members—may force lawmakers to reckon with the state’s far-left energy policies.
“After meeting with stakeholders in the energy sector, it has become clear that Delaware’s green energy mandates, including its participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, are a significant factor driving up costs,” Delaware state senate minority leader Gerald Hocker (R.) and state Rep. Bryan Shupe (R.) said in a statement on Feb. 14.
“These policies, while well-intended, are having unintended consequences, forcing Delaware to import electricity at higher costs while discouraging traditional energy investments within our state,” they continued. “Delawareans should not be forced to shoulder ever-increasing costs while our state government continues imposing mandates that make energy more expensive.”
In addition to the 2021 Renewable Portfolio Standard bill that mandates that 40 percent of power is produced by green sources, Delaware joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in 2017 alongside other Democratic-led states, which forces it to comply with strict emissions reductions and punishes facilities with large carbon emissions.
But green energy sources still generate just 6 percent of Delaware’s total electricity output while natural gas generates 87 percent, according to the most recent federal data.
Nationwide, green energy generates 21 percent of electricity and natural gas generates 43 percent, additional data show. And Delaware produces less than half of its own electricity, meaning it must rely on power generation from other states in the region.
Its reliance on out-of-state generation has become more acute as it has moved to stop building gas power plants and shut down existing fossil fuel power generation—Delaware’s last remaining coal-fired power plant, the 411-megawatt Indian River 4 plant in Sussex County, shuttered in February.
PJM, the regional grid operator that oversees Delaware’s power grid, has repeatedly warned that fossil fuel retirements are outpacing new green energy development, putting consumers at a higher risk of sudden price increases and grid reliability crises.
Read rest at Free Beacon
