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SB 326 DE
Became Law

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 26 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION.

DE · session 153 · Senate · bill

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Introduced May 18, 2026

Latest action (Jul 13, 2026) Signed by Governor

Summary

Delaware Senate Bill 326 would enhance customer protections and public utility regulation by requiring greater rate and communication transparency, mandating management audits and regulatory accounting reviews, and limiting interim rate collection. The bill would also restrict utilities' recovery of certain expenses and non-mandatory infrastructure spending, with particular limits on Delmarva Power's capital spending. The bill would require the Public Service Commission to provide rationales for settlement agreements.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill (from the OpenStates abstract — no full text available yet) — neutral, and may be imperfect.

Official abstract

This bill builds on the customer protections created in Senate Bill 60 in 2025, as follows: 1. Increases transparency in rates and communications by public utilities. 2. Requires regular management audits of certain public utilities and regulatory accounting reviews with each rate case proceeding. 3. Provides greater consistency in the data used by public utilities in rate case proceedings. 4. Limits how much utilities can collect in interim rates before the Commission has ruled on a rate increase request. 5. Prohibits public utilities from recovering certain expenses from ratepayers. 6. Requires the Commission to provide rationale for its decisions in accepting settlement agreements. 7. Puts limits on Delmarva Power’s infrastructure spending, which is a major driver of rate increases. Delmarva Power is operating its electric distribution system at a level far in excess of reliability standards set by the Commission. In support of its parent company’s strategic goal to increase earnings by increasing rate base, Delmarva Power’s annual capital spending leads to frequent rate increase requests to the Commission. Part of Delmarva Power’s capital spending includes “non-mandatory projects,” which by definition are projects that are not required to maintain system reliability. This bill limits the amount of non-mandatory capital expenses the company may recover from ratepayers in rates and is indexed to the company’s rate base, i.e. the value of all its capital assets. Limiting non-mandatory cost recovery will in no way impact Delmarva Power’s ability to restore service after storms nor impact its vegetation management (tree trimming) program.

Sponsors (10)

Action history (11)
  1. May 18, 2026 Introduced and Assigned to Environment, Energy & Transportation Committee in Senate · upper
  2. Jun 8, 2026 Amendment SA 1 to SB 326 - Introduced and Placed With Bill · upper
  3. Jun 9, 2026 Reported Out of Committee (Environment, Energy & Transportation) in Senate with 1 Favorable, 4 On Its Merits · upper
  4. Jun 16, 2026 Amendment SA 1 to SB 326 - Passed By Senate. Votes: 20 YES 1 NOT VOTING · upper
  5. Jun 16, 2026 Passed By Senate. Votes: 20 YES 1 NO · upper
  6. Jun 17, 2026 Assigned to Natural Resources & Energy Committee in House · lower
  7. Jun 29, 2026 Amendment HA 1 to SB 326 - Introduced and Placed With Bill · upper
  8. Jun 30, 2026 Reported Out of Committee (Natural Resources & Energy) in House with 8 On Its Merits · lower
  9. Jun 30, 2026 Amendment HA 1 to SB 326 - Stricken in House · lower
  10. Jun 30, 2026 Passed By House. Votes: 30 YES 11 NO · lower
  11. Jul 13, 2026 Signed by Governor · executive

Full text

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