01/07: As of December 2006, only one retail supplier in Delaware was providing services to residential customers, of which, only one percent had switched services.
Source: LIHEAP Clearing House
http://www.liheap.ncat.org/dereg/states/delaware.htm

11/06: The Delaware Public Service Commission entered Order No. 7078 which adopted the proposed “Rules for Certification and Regulation of Electric Suppliers” observed in the order. These rules were intended to be used for re-regulation of Delaware’s electricity providers.
Source: Delaware Public Service Commission
http://depsc.delaware.gov/

5/06: After a pending 59-percent increase in electricity rates, the Delaware General Assembly passed legislation that enrolled all of DP&L’s residential customers into a plan which spread the higher electricity rates through 2009.
Source: Delaware Energy Office
http://www.delaware-energy.com/

04/06: A joint resolution was introduced in the Delaware House of Representatives (JR 23) which called for the Delaware Public Service Commission, in consultation with the Governor’s Energy Advisory Council, to conduct a feasibility study in regards to re-regulating Delaware’s electricity industry.
Source: The State of Delaware
http://www.legis.state.de.us/LIS/LIS143.NSF/vwLegislation/HJR+23?Opendocument

04/06: Joint resolution 3 (JR3) was introduced in the Delaware state senate with the intent to require the state’s Office of Management and Budget and the Controller General to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) to “hire an independent consultant to issue a study that recommends a process to re-regulate electric power in the State. It required the study to examine and discuss the benefits and shortfalls of such re-regulation, and to discuss the costs that re-regulation would impose upon the State and the electric industry. Finally, the study was scheduled to be presented to the Governor and the General Assembly by December 2006.”
Source: The State of Delaware.
http://www.legis.state.de.us/LIS/LIS143.NSF/vwLegislation/SJR+3?Opendocument

04/06: Gov. Minner signed House Bills 5 & 6 (HB 5 & HB 6). House Bill 5 provided “state government with the flexibility to aggregate its electricity usage and bargain for the best rates possible to save taxpayer money.” House Bill 6 provided “an optional deferral for Delmarva Power electric customers in connection with the pending rate increase.”
Source: State of Delaware
http://www.state.de.us/governor/news/2006/04april/041306_2006_legislative_agenda.shtml

03/06: The Electric Utilities Retail Customer Supply Act of 2006, House Bill 6 (HB 6) was introduced by the House. “The Act provides that all electric distribution companies subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission would be designated as the standard offer service supplier and returning customer service supplier in their respective territories. The Act provided further opportunity for distribution companies to enter into long and short-term supply contracts, own and operate generation facilities, build generation and transmission facilities, make investments in demand-side resources and take any other Commission approved action to diversify their retail load supply. Additionally, Delmarva Power is required to conduct Integrated Resource Planning for a forward-looking 10 year time frame and to file such plan with the Commission, the Controller General, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Energy Office every two years starting with December 1, 2006. As part of the initial planning process, Delmarva Power is required to file a proposal to obtain long-term supply contracts. The proposal requires Delmarva Power to include a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the construction of new generation resources within Delaware.” “With respect to rate increases for Standard Offer Service to be effective on May 1, 2006, residential and small commercial customers of DP&L, depending on rate classification, shall have the ability to opt out of the following rate deferral plan:

Date Rate % Increase
5/1/2006 15%
1/1/2007 25%
6/1/2007 19%
1/1/2008 True-up/Balance

a. A customer who did not opt out of the deferral plan would be placed on a non-by-passable tariff, under which the customer would be responsible for all of his/her incurred deferral amounts including carrying costs of the plan.
b. Customers will have from April 1, 2006 to April 28, 2006 to affirmatively opt out of this plan.”
Source: State of Delaware
http://www.legis.state.de.us/LIS/lis143.nsf/vwLegislation/HB+6/$file/legis.html?open

03/06: Delmarva recommends a 3-step phase in of price increases.

02/06: The governor issued Executive Order No. 82 (EO 82) which directed the Delaware Public Service Commission to “examine the feasibility of (a) deferring, for a fixed or a phased-in period, pending electricity rate increases; (b) requiring Delmarva to build generation, or enter into long term supply contracts, to meet up to 100 percent of supply options under traditional rate base, rate of return regulation; (c) requiring Delmarva to conduct integrated resource planning to ensure fuel diversity and least cost supply alternatives; and (d) requiring Delmarva to implement demand side management, conservation and efficiency programs. The examination by the Public Service Commission shall also include its assessment of the need for legislation to accomplish any of these potential options. The results of this analysis shall be submitted to the Office of the Governor no later than March 8, 2006.”
Source: The State of Delaware
http://www.state.de.us/governor/orders/e%20o%20%2082.shtml

10/04: Acting under the Electric Utility Restructuring Act of 1999, House Bill 10 (HB 10), the Public Service Commission began Standard Offer Service (SOS) providing Conectiv customers who “do not otherwise receive electric supply service from an electric supplier are provided “‘standard offer service’” by the “‘standard offer service supplier.’”
Source: Delaware Public Service Commission
http://depsc.delaware.gov/

08/02: The PEPCO/Conectiv merger was approved pending an extension of the rate freeze through May 2006. The two companies retained their names under the holding company of Pepco Holdings Inc.
Source: U.S. Security and Exchange Commission
http://www.sec.gov/divisions/investment/opur/filing/35-27765.htm

04/02: Delaware’s governor issued Executive Order No. 31 (EO 31), creating the Delaware Energy Task Force. The Task Force was charged with: meeting the electricity and heating needs of a rapidly growing population, particularly south of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal; and, ensuring that the transmission and distribution facilities were adequate to meet future demand.
Source: State of Delaware.
http://stateplanning.delaware.gov/

01/00: Delaware Electric Cooperative's restructuring plan was approved on January 27, 2000 with Order No. 5424.

08/99: The PSC issued final rules for restructuring in Delaware. The start date for retail competition was scheduled for October 1, 2000 for residential customers, October 1, 1999 for large customers, and January 15, 2000 for medium-sized customers. Further details regarding these final rules are as follows:

Conectiv (DP&L)
Phase-in of retail access for consumers in Conectiv's territory was scheduled for large industrial consumers on October 1, 1999; other consumers with over 300 kW demand by February 2000; and small consumers by August 2000. Conectiv would be the default supplier during the 4-year transition period.

Delaware Electric Cooperative
Consumers in Delaware Electric Cooperative territory were scheduled to have a similar schedule with a 6 month delay. Municipals in Delaware would have the option to choose whether or not to allow retail access.

Rates Conectiv (DP&L)
Residential consumers were scheduled to receive a 7.5-percent rate reduction and a 4-year rate freeze at the 9/30/99 level from 10/1/99 to 9/30/03. Nonresidential rates were scheduled to be frozen at the 9/30/99 level from 10/1/99 to 9/30/02.

Delaware Electric Cooperative
Consumers were scheduled to receive no further rate reduction (having received a recent 5- percent cut) but rates would be frozen during the transition period from 4/1/00 to 3/31/05.

04/99: Delaware passed the Electricity Restructuring Act of 1999, House Bill (HB 10). The act was intended to bring competition to Delaware’s electricity generation. Rate caps were imposed for non-residential consumers of Conectiv from October 1999 through September 2002; caps for residences were imposed between October 1999 through September 2002. This involved a residential rate cut of 7.5 percent for Conectiv customers and a rate freeze for the coop customers; funding for public benefits programs; and for Conectiv, no provisions for stranded cost recovery (the cooperative had no public benefit funding and stranded cost recovery would have been determined by the PSC). These caps were eventually extended to May 2006.
Source: Delaware Energy Office.
http://www.delaware-energy.com/
http://www.legis.state.de.us/LIS/LIS140.NSF/vwLegislation/HB+10?Opendocument

03/99: House Bill 10, "The Electric Utility Restructuring Act of 1999," was enacted on March 31, 1999. The law's provisions included: a phase-in of retail competition beginning on October 1, 1999 for large customers in Conectiv's service territory and ending on April 1, 2001; a residential rate cut of 7.5 percent for Conectiv customers and a rate freeze for the coop customers; funding for public benefits programs; and for Conectiv, no provisions for stranded cost recovery (the cooperative had no public benefit funding and stranded cost recovery would have been determined by the PSC).

01/98: The PSC adopted a final report on electric industry restructuring with recommendations including unbundling of rates and stranded cost recovery using Competitive Transition Charges. The report called for competition for all Delaware consumers to begin 12 months after restructuring legislation is enacted.