Delaware Electricity Rates per kWh: Delmarva vs the Co-op and Cities

Delaware’s statewide average sits close to the national one, which hides how far apart its four main electric utilities have moved. A Delmarva home can pay about $34 to $48 a month more than a co-op member at the same use, and Delmarva has another interim increase due on 9 December 2026.

Delaware went from 12.5¢ to 18¢ in five years

From 2018 to 2021 the yearly Delaware price sat between 12.5¢ and 12.6¢, below where it had been in 2010. It then reached 13.7¢ in 2022, 15.7¢ in 2023, 16.6¢ in 2024, 17.1¢ in 2025 and 18.0¢ for January to August 2026. That is a rise of about 44% in five years.

The longer view looks mild only because the 2010s were so flat. The latest 12 months average 17.98¢, against 13.80¢ in 2010, which is the second-smallest rise of the 51 since then. May 2026 hit 19.38¢, the highest month in our series, partly because fixed charges spread across only 702 kWh that month. Read the 12-month line for the trend.

Four utilities, and $34 to $48 between two of them at 750 kWh

Federal 2025 figures show how the four main utilities sat before this year’s changes. Newark had the highest price and one of the two lowest bills, because its homes used the least power. The co-op had the lowest price and, on the highest use, a bill between Delmarva’s and the cities’.

We multiplied price by use for the bill column. Comparing the same 750 kWh with rates in force in 2026 gives a cleaner answer.

The co-op and Dover bills are our sums from their rate sheets, before any tax. Newark’s and the upper Delmarva figure come from a Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation comparison as of 1 August, reported to Newark’s council. That group supplies Newark, so treat it as an interested source. Newark also added a demand charge of $1.50 per kW in January 2026, set by your highest 15 minutes of the month. A 5 kW peak adds $7.50.

Our lower Delmarva figure adds up the tariff lines and the company’s Price to Compare. It sits about $15 below the comparison, and we could not close that gap. Delmarva’s own notice puts 811 kWh at about $172 from June, before two renewable charges, which falls between the two. The co-op says its members save more than $500 a year against neighboring utilities, which is in line with these figures at higher use.

— in the last two columns: the utility reported no homes on delivery-only service to EIA for 2025, so none of its homes bought power from a supplier. All 3 are city utilities, public districts or co-ops.

EIA-861 for 2025: each utility’s revenue from homes divided by the kWh they used, so monthly charges are spread into the price.

What changed on a Delmarva bill in June and July

Delmarva’s bill moved twice in six weeks, for two separate reasons. The first was supply, which is bought through an annual auction overseen by the Public Service Commission. The second was delivery, in a rate case filed on 9 December 2025.

The June supply rates began as temporary too. On 22 April the commission approved them from 1 June, subject to refund with interest, under Docket 26-0389. Its staff later recommended making them final, and a proposed order was prepared for a 4 November hearing. We could not confirm that it was signed.

The July figure needs care. About $23.2 million of the interim total was already on bills as that surcharge, so the new money is closer to $11.1 million a year. Shared across homes the way Delmarva proposed, that is about $2.25 a month by our rough sum. WHYY reported about 67 cents, and the commission’s order gives no bill figure for the amount it finally allowed.

9 December: interim rates step up to 75% of the request

Delmarva asked for $67.8 million a year and later updated that to $68.6 million. The commission’s order allows $34.3 million from 9 July and $51.5 million from 9 December 2026. That second step adds about $17.2 million a year, unless the commission issues a final order first. With hearings reported for April 2027, that looks unlikely.

By our rough sum, the December step is about $3.50 a month for an average home. We took the 62% share of the request that falls on home rate classes and divided by about 255,000 home customers. Delmarva has not published a figure for this step that we could find.

The commission said in its order that it had no power to stop interim rates, because the law makes them automatic after seven months. It added that it would have liked Delmarva to follow its sister company PECO and withdraw the case. A new law, SB 326, signed on 13 July, lowered the limit to 50% at seven months and 75% at 12. Delmarva says the order cut too deep and has appealed to the Delaware Superior Court.

All interim money is subject to refund with interest if the final rates come in lower. The order does not yet say how a refund would reach you, so keep your bills.

The 10.5% profit question behind the case

A central dispute is Delmarva’s requested return on equity of 10.5%, up from the 9.6% it reports from its last case. The return is what a monopoly utility may earn on the shareholder money in its grid. The commission wrote that the 10.5% “may well be deemed unjust and unreasonable” once it has heard the evidence.

On 21 October 2026 the Public Advocate asked the commission to investigate returns at utilities in Delaware and consider a competitive way of setting them. The Governor’s office says returns account for more than 10% of a typical electric bill. Spotlight Delaware reports that the Public Advocate favors a return tied to the 10-year Treasury rate plus two points, which would be about 6.9% at that week’s rate.

Delmarva’s regional president told Spotlight that actual returns are often below the allowed figure, because rate approvals take months. A company spokesman said it welcomes a review of the process. The petition became Docket 26-1045 and was listed for the commission’s 4 November 2026 meeting. It asks for an expedited investigation, but the meeting papers include no draft order on it, and we could not confirm what the commissioners decided.

Supply, transmission and delivery all rose together

The Public Advocate’s April 2026 review of Delmarva bills found a pattern that explains the flat 2010s and the steep 2020s. Before 2020, falling supply costs hid rising delivery costs. After 2020, nothing was falling.

The current figures are from Delmarva’s tariff filed on 26 October 2026, and delivery includes the interim increase. Only delivery is set by the Delaware commission. Transmission goes through the regional grid operator PJM and federal regulators, and supply follows the auction. That is why a rate case decision will change only part of your bill.

The auction for next June has started. The first round ran on 2 November 2026, and the commission’s consultant reported wholesale power 3.2% to 4.6% above the same round last year, even with natural gas futures lower. It recommended approving the bids but gave no winning prices in public. A second round follows on 25 January 2027, and new supply rates start on 1 June 2027 after a separate tariff review, so it is too early to put a number on next year’s bill.

The review also notes SB 59, a 2025 law. From January 2026 it lets the commission reject spending it finds imprudent, in place of a looser business judgment test.

Electric heat costs 1.5¢ less in winter, and has the bigger rate ask

Homes heated by electric resistance or a heat pump can qualify for Delmarva’s Residential Space Heating rate. The heating must be permanently installed, be the primary source and meet a minimum size, so check your bill for which rate you are on. Supply is noticeably cheaper in winter.

That 1.52¢ winter gap is worth about $18 on a 1,200 kWh month. The catch is in the rate case: Delmarva’s full request would lift space-heating base rates by 27.4%, against 18.2% for the standard home rate.

Delmarva’s time-of-use rate wins below 40% on-peak

Delmarva’s optional time-of-use rate charges about 30¢ per kWh on-peak and about 10¢ off-peak, once delivery and supply are added together. The standard rate works out near 18.5¢ on the same basis. On-peak runs from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays in daylight saving time, and an hour earlier in winter.

The peak window covers 33% of the hours in a week. At 1,000 kWh a month, our sums show the rate breaks even at about 40% of your use on-peak, after its customer charge of $19.86. A home at exactly 33% would save about $14 to $15 a month. It is open to the first 5,000 customers and needs a one-year contract, so ask Delmarva for your hourly history before you commit.

The co-op’s Beat the Peak rate has a much sharper window. It charges about 25.2¢ for supply from 3 to 6 p.m. and about 7.2¢ at other times, with 6.7¢ overnight. At 1,000 kWh its break-even is about 12% of your use in those three hours, which is close to the 12.5% of the day they cover. So you need to shift load for it to pay. It is capped at 500 members, also on a one-year contract, and these rates are from the co-op’s March 2025 tariff.

Only 5.5% of Delaware homes shop, and they paid more in 2025

Delmarva customers can buy supply from another company, though co-op and city customers cannot in practice. To compare an offer, use the Price to Compare. For a standard home it averages 13.59¢ per kWh across the year and includes estimated transmission. Your own rate class may differ, so check the table above.

In 2025 the 26,556 Delaware homes with a supplier paid 23.33¢ per kWh in total, when the same use at Delmarva’s price would have cost 18.16¢. The gap came to about $522 a home, or $13.9 million across the state. Past gaps do not tell you what one offer will do, so compare the offer in front of you.

Worked out from EIA-861 for 2025: suppliers’ revenue from homes plus the utilities’ delivery-only revenue, divided by the kWh, against the same kWh at each utility’s default-service price per kWh. Aggregation programmes count as suppliers. The averages hide wide differences between contracts.

The Standard Offer rose on 1 June 2026 and stays until the next reset, so a fixed offer below 13.59¢ can look better now than it did a year ago. Check whether the price includes transmission, how long it lasts and what it rolls onto when it ends.

EIA-861 for 2025, Sales to Ultimate Customers (residential): every utility, supplier and retail provider’s own report.

Price your own Delaware meter reading

Type in your monthly kWh and compare it with the average Delaware home. Pick your utility and the calculator uses its 2025 average price, so a Delmarva result will read low against a bill from this winter.

August cost more than February on less power

Delaware homes used more in February 2026 than in any other month of the latest 12: 1,207 kWh for $196. August used 1,121 kWh and cost $210, the highest bill of the year. The June supply rise and the July interim rates fell between them, taking the average from about 16.2¢ to about 18.7¢.

October 2025 was the lightest month, at 644 kWh and $118. That leaves the heaviest bill at nearly 1.8 times the lightest, a large swing, so a budget billing plan may help if your income is steady.

Maryland pays more on similar use; New Jersey pays less at a higher price

Delaware homes spent $2,001 over the latest 12 months. Maryland homes use a similar amount, about 11,460 kWh against 11,129, and spent $2,427 at 21.18¢. Pennsylvania spent $2,094 at 20.86¢. New Jersey has the highest price of the group at 23.74¢ and still spent less than Delaware at $1,921, because its homes use about 3,000 kWh a year less.

Across the border: Pennsylvania 20.86¢, Maryland 21.18¢, New Jersey 23.74¢.

All 50 states and DC on one page, with a map.

Data centers: three new laws and one withdrawn plan

Delmarva told regulators in a January 2026 filing that data center proposals could total 2 gigawatts, against a state peak of about 2.7 gigawatts in summer. The largest plan, Project Washington near Delaware City, was ruled out under the Coastal Zone Act in February, a state board upheld that, and States Newsroom reported in August that the developer had withdrawn its appeal in early July.

The Governor signed three laws on 26 August 2026. HB 233 creates a separate rate class for very large users, so they cover their own infrastructure upgrades, and makes them first to be cut off in a grid emergency unless they supply their own power. HB 445 requires large facilities to produce or secure all the power they need. HB 310 bars them from job-creation tax credits. The commission also opened Docket 25-0826 on a large-load tariff and voted to pause new large connections in Delmarva’s area until one is set. We found no final tariff.

Below 35°F at 8 a.m., your power stays on

A 2025 state law bars a utility from shutting off a home for non-payment on a day when the 8 a.m. temperature at an airport in your county is 35°F or lower. The same applies when the 8 a.m. forecast has the heat index reaching 95°F. Utilities must also give at least 72 hours’ notice, and you can name a third person to receive that notice too. The Public Service Commission’s number is 302-736-7500.

The Delaware Energy Assistance Program helps with home energy bills and is run under contract by Catholic Charities. Its energy assistance lines are 302-674-1782 in Kent County and 302-856-6310 in Sussex County. We could not open the state’s page to confirm the 2026 to 2027 income limits, so ask when you call, or dial 211 for other help. Delmarva’s Customer Relief Fund offered up to $300 in bill credits when it launched in 2025, and the company’s bill support page will show whether money remains. Energize Delaware offers home energy assessments. Co-op members can ask about bill assistance through the co-op.

Gaps we could not close by 6 November

Four gaps remain. We could not reconcile our Delmarva sum with the $177.39 comparison, so we show both. We read the proposed Newark rate ordinance, and a council memo and demand-charge sheet that match it, but not the final city code. The co-op’s posted tariff dates from March 2025, with its May 2026 power cost change added by us, so a later change could be missing. And the 4 November papers show what was listed, not what was decided, so we have no vote on the profit petition, no signed final supply order and no ruling yet on Delmarva’s appeal.

Bills here leave out any local charge. Wilmington adds a 2% franchise tax on Delmarva bills.

Figures to August 2026 (EIA marks recent months preliminary), utility figures for 2025, refreshed 3 November 2026. How every number in this series is made and checked.

• Delaware, every month since 2010 (CSV): price per kWh, kWh and bill per home, and the US price.
• Every state, DC and the US (CSV)
• Everything above with the utility and supplier figures (JSON)

EIA data is in the public domain: credit the U.S. Energy Information Administration. A link back is welcome.

Questions

Electricity rates in other states

Version history

• 1.1 (6 November 2026): added what the commission’s 4 November meeting papers show on the profit petition, the final supply order and the first auction for June 2027; corrected the wording on when the June supply rates were approved.
• 1.0 (November 2026): first published.