Gov. Matt Meyer nominates environmental lawyer Jameson Tweedie as Delaware’s new public advocate amid soaring energy prices.
Rising energy bills were a cause for concern among Delawareans during the winter months, and with further rate increases announced by Delmarva Power for this summer, state officials have been leaping into action.
While Delmarva Power blamed the unusually high bill prices on unseasonably cold temperatures, they implemented an interim gas rate hike of around $8 per bill in April, as well as an average $10 electric bill increase coming on June 1 due to supply charge increases.
Ruth Ann Price has served with the Delaware Division of the Public Advocate for over a decade, first serving as deputy advocate and then moving into the acting public advocate role with the departure of Drew Slater in February 2023, who is now Executive Director of the Sustainable Energy Utility, Inc., also known as Energize Delaware.
With her decision to move on from the office, Gov. Meyer is hoping Tweedie can work to hold Delmarva Power accountable.
“I don't think right now Delmarva [Power] is doing a great job delivering low-cost power and gas to Delawareans, and Jameson knows I feel that way — I think he shares some of that, and he's ready to fight for Delawareans," Gov. Meyer said.
Tweedie is currently a senior staff attorney at the State Energy and Environmental Impact Center at NYU School of Law.
He previously spent six years in the Environmental Unit of the Delaware Department of Justice and served as primary counsel to the the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control's (DNREC) Division of Climate, Coastal and Energy.
If confirmed by the State Senate, one of Tweedie’s roles will be advocating for the public’s interest when utility companies request a rate increase with the Public Service Commission.
The Delaware legislature is currently working on a bill that would give the Public Service Commission more power to scrutinize if a rate increase is reasonable, along with a series of other energy-related bills.
As more coal-fired power plants are being decommissioned throughout the region, Delaware joins other states in working to bring various renewable energy sources online in order to compensate for the loss of generation, which is one of the primary factors in increased energy supply costs.
“The demands for power keep increasing, not just in Delaware, but really across the region and across the country. The transmission lines are sort of the same transmission lines. Delmarva continues to invest to grow, but the costs are really acute, and Delmarva doesn't seem willing to bend that much really to help out customers. So we're gonna do what we have to do to hold their feet to the fire and do what we can do for the long term," Gov. Meyer said.
Tweedie must first receive approval from the Senate Executive Committee before moving to the State Senate for a full vote.
