DOVER, Del. - The Delaware House of Representatives passed two bills aimed at requiring data centers to cover their own utility costs on June 16.Â
The current draft of House Bill 233 would require any large energy users, like data centers, to pay the full cost of new infrastructure or grid capacity they need. Sponsors of the bill, Rep. Frank Burns and Sen. Stephanie Hansen, said this would attempt to prevent those costs from being put on residents and small businesses.
"Delaware is a small state and every decision we make regarding our energy grid can have huge effects on residents," said Burns.
The bill would require Public Service Commission-regulated utilities to create a separate utility rate structure for these facilities. This includes all gas, electric, telephone, water and sewage disposal companies. The energy-use facilities would not be able to connect to the electric grid until the utility rate structure is in place.
Burns said these facilities could place a strain on Delaware's electric grid and create risks for consumers. These risks could include rising energy prices due to scarcity and potential energy shortages.
"We have heard from our neighbors in other states how much data centers have hurt their communities and how often the costs trickle down to ratepayers," said Burns.
The second bill passed was House Bill 445, sponsored by Rep. Debra Heffernan and Sen. Stephanie Hansen. It would require large energy users to generate or secure their own power supply.
“Delaware ratepayers should not be expected to subsidize the energy demands of massive data centers," said Heffernan. "We know these facilities consume vast amounts of power and can create real problems for grid reliability and affordability."
Facilities that can't initially create enough power to run all of its operations will need to submit a plan to increase energy production. Facilities must reach those levels within 10 years of beginning operations.
Both bills are now heading to the Delaware Senate for consideration.
