Some Delaware ratepayers will soon pay less on their utility bills.
The Delaware Public Service Commission this week approved rate reductions for six utilities.
Ratepayers of Artesian Water, Long Neck Water, Suez Water, Chesapeake, Sussex Shores and Tidewater Utilities will see an average reduction in their bills of between $1.52 and $8.17.
This latest cut - combined with one already in effect for Delmarva Power electric and natural gas customers - adds up to more $18 million in savings for Delaware ratepayers.
Delaware Public Advocate Drew Slater said the calculations were made based on each utility’s savings from the corporate tax rate dropping from 35 percent to 21 percent.
“The commission staff went through those tax savings and then was able to determine what the overall rate reduction should be,” he said.
Congress reduced the corporate tax rate as part of the tax cut package it passed in 2017.
The cuts only apply to utilities regulated by the commission.
“So municipals, the city of Dover, or the city of Newark or Smyrna or others, the Public Service Commission doesn’t have authority over the rates that they charge,” he said.
Slater filed a petition last year with the PSC asking for the rate reductions, supported by 38 state lawmakers.
