The Delaware Renewable Energy Taskforce's latest meeting announced the state's new five-year energy plan is ready for a second round of feedback next month.
Every five years, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control releases an updated version of the State Energy Plan, and a new version is due this year.
The Governor’s Energy Advisory Council recently approved 82 recommendations from its four working groups, focusing on environmental justice and equity, renewable and clean energy, efficiency, as well as grid modernization.
The new strategies focus largely on reaching Delaware’s zero emission goal in the energy sector by 2050, as well as creating an offshore wind procurement program and assessing the feasibility of adopting a Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
Energy Policy Planner Brett Swann says the public will have the opportunity to weigh in on all of the various strategies next month.
“The format will be the same – kind of an open house. People can come in at any time, they can walk around. Essentially, every chapter of the plan is gonna have its own table where we talk about the strategies in that chapter.”
The public engagement meetings will be held August, 13, 14 and 15 in Georgetown (Cheer Community Center), New Castle (Route 9 Public Library & Innovation Center) and Dover (Dover Public Library), respectively.
Taskforce members also discussed the Delaware Public Service Commission's proposal to update regulations in order to provide better consumer protections for community solar subscribers.
Community Energy Facilities, or CEFs, are renewable energy generating facilities that have multiple owners or customers who share the output of the generator, which requires a final certificate to operate.
But Sr. Regulatory Policy Administrator Tricia Gannon explains several CEFs are finding loopholes to regulation because they hire brokers who find customers to sign over the management of their electric bills.
“Last year, there were no CEFs with final certificates, but we know that companies acting as brokers started signing contracts with customers last summer. But again, these contracts weren't for you to enroll with a solar project, it was to get control of your bill to eventually have the authority to save you money somehow, someway," she said.
Gannon points out the larger issue is that there are no live community solar projects in Delaware, and she wants customers to be aware of that.
"We talked to somebody yesterday — it's a broker who plans to operate in Delaware, who actually does operate in Delaware now under other programs, and they were reviewing some of the Maryland stuff — for Community Energy Facilities — and there was a contract where you got a 5% discount, but then you had to pay a $5 a month processing fee. So basically it wiped out any savings."
The proposed regulations would allow the Public Service Commission to better regulate these brokers, and the draft currently awaits legal review.
