Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official PDF posted by the Delaware General Assembly, fetched 2026-09-25. Page and line markers are part of the official record; nothing is edited or removed. This is the current version. The official bill page.
SPONSOR: Sen. Hansen & Rep. Heffernan & Rep. Burns
Sen. Pinkney; Reps. Berry, Carson, Lambert, Phillips,
Snyder-Hall
DELAWARE STATE SENATE
153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY
SENATE BILL NO. 321
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 26 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATED TO UTILITY BILLING.
1 WHEREAS, Community Energy Facilities (CEFs) expand access to renewable energy for all customers, including
2 renters and low- to moderate-income (LMI) households; and
3 WHEREAS, Utility Consolidated Billing (UCB) with net crediting has been successfully implemented in
4 neighboring states such as Maryland and New Jersey, improving billing transparency, reducing administrative burdens, and
5 expanding participation in community energy; and
6 WHEREAS, it is in the public interest to authorize consolidated billing in Delaware for community energy
7 subscriptions, to reduce billing confusion, and to ensure the financial stability of subscriber coordinators.
8 NOW, THEREFORE:
9 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
10 Section 1. Amend Chapter 10, Title 26 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and
11 insertions as shown by underline as follows:
12 § 1014. Public purpose programs and consumer education [For application of this section, see 85 Del. Laws, c. 83,
13 § 2].
14 (f) Individual customers may aggregate their individual meters in conjunction with a community-owned energy
15 generating facility provided that:
16 (14) Every 3 years, the community-owned energy generating facility must certify to the Public Service
17 Commission in writing that it meets the low low- to moderate- income eligibility criteria provided in this chapter,
18 provided that Community-owned energy generating facilities with a Final Certificate to Operate issued by the
19 Commission on or before September 1, 2026 may elect to only include low income customers as set forth in §
20 1014 (16)e.
21 (16) Before a community-owned energy generating facility receives permission to operate pursuant to the
22 interconnection process from the electric distribution company, a community-owned energy generating facility
23 shall provide the electric distribution company with the following information:
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24 e. Before a community-owned energy generating facility with a Final Certificate to Operate
25 issued by the Commission on or before September 1, 2026, receives permission to interconnect with an
26 electric distribution company, the community-owned energy generating facility must certify to the
27 electric distribution company and the Commission that participants in the community-owned energy
28 generating facility include at least 15% low income customers whose gross annual income, by family
29 size, is at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, or 60% of the state median household income
30 published by the United States Census Bureau, whichever is greater.
31 f. Before a community-owned energy generating facility with a Final Certificate to Operate
32 issued by the Commission on or after September 2, 2026, receives permission to interconnect with an
33 electric distribution company, the community-owned energy generating facility must certify to the
34 electric distribution company and the Commission that at least 15% of its kilowatt–hour output is served
35 to low- to moderate- income customers whose gross annual income, by family size, is at or below 350%
36 of the federal poverty guidelines, or 80% of the state median household income published by the United
37 States Census Bureau, whichever is greater. Provided however, that community-owned energy generating
38 facilities with a Final Certificate to Operate issued by the Commission on or before September 1, 2026,
39 may elect to certify under the provisions of this section.
40 §1014A. Consolidated Billing.
41 (a) Definitions. For purposes of this section:
42 (1) “Consolidated billing” means a mechanism that requires an electric utility under the regulation of the
43 Delaware Public Service Commission to, at the request of a Subscription Coordinator:
44 a. Include the monthly subscription charge of a community energy facility on the subscriber’s
45 utility bill.
46 b. Remit payment received for those charges to the Subscription Coordinator.
47 (2) “Net crediting” means a process in which the Commission-regulated electric public utility subtracts
48 the community energy subscription charge from the monthly community energy credit, applies the savings value
49 to the customer’s bill, and remits the subscription charge directly to the subscription coordinator.
50 (3) "Subscriber" means a retail customer of a Commission-regulated electric public utility that holds a
51 subscription to a community energy facility.
52 (4) "Subscription Coordinator" means:
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53 a. A person that has a contractual arrangement with a community energy facility, whether having
54 received a final certificate to operate or not, to provide services such as:
55 1. Market community energy facility projects or otherwise provide community energy
56 facility services under its own brand name.
57 2. Perform any administrative actions to connect or enroll customers with community
58 energy facility projects or allocate subscriptions. This does not include vendors or subcontractors
59 handling only back-office functions such as electronic data interchange between the community
60 energy facility, subscription coordinator, and the utility company.
61 3. Manage interactions between a community energy facility and an electric distribution
62 company related to subscribers. This does not include vendors or subcontractors handling only
63 back-office functions such as electronic data interchange between the community energy facility,
64 subscription coordinator, and the utility company.
65 (b) Consolidated billing authorization.
66 (1) Commission-regulated electric public utilities must offer consolidated billing for all residential and
67 small-to-mid-sized commercial subscribers.
68 (2) Consolidated billing shall be the default billing method for all community energy facilities with a
69 Final Certificate to Operate issued by the Commission on or after September 2, 2026, unless a subscriber elects
70 otherwise. Any Community-owned energy generating facility participating in consolidated billing under this
71 section must comply with § 1014 (f)(16)f and § 1014A (c)(2). However, a Community-owned energy generating
72 facilities with a Final Certificate to Operate issued by the Commission on or before September 1, 2026, may elect
73 to not participate in consolidated billing if the facility operator submits a formal request in writing to the
74 Commission-regulated electric public utility by no later than September 1, 2027, subscribers should contact their
75 subscription coordinator to unenroll from utility consolidated billing, not the Commission-regulated electric public
76 utility. Enrollment transactions are the responsibility of the Subscription Coordinator. Subscription Coordinators
77 can utilize a 0% savings rate in the community energy portal to opt individual subscribers out of utility
78 consolidated billing, which would allow them to continue invoicing those customers separately.
79 (3) The community energy facility is solely responsible for managing their customer subscriptions.
80 (4) Subscription Coordinators may not impose subscription fees, early termination penalties, or charges
81 unrelated to commodity service through consolidated billing.
82 (c) Consumer protections - credit.
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83 (1) No subscription coordinator may require residential subscribers to undergo a credit check or pay
84 upfront enrollment fees.
85 (2) For projects with a Final Certificate to Operate issued by the Commission on or after September 2,
86 2026, the savings rate for residential customers shall be at least 10%, the savings rate for any income qualified
87 subscriber as defined by § 1014 paragraph (f)(16)f. of this title shall be at least 20%, even when accounting for any
88 subscription or other fees charged by the subscribing organization or Community-owned energy generating
89 facility.
90 (3) For projects with a Final Certificate to Operate issued by the Commission on or before September 1,
91 2026, the subscription value for residential customers must provide for a net discount when applying the monetary
92 value of the bill credit on a bill issued by the electric company to the subscriber for electric service, even when
93 accounting for any subscription or other fees charged by the subscribing organization or Community-owned
94 energy generating facility.
95 (4) Community energy facility owners are solely responsible for managing their customer subscriptions
96 through the utility's community energy portal.
97 (d) Utility obligations.
98 (1) Commission-regulated electric public utilities shall:
99 a. Apply community energy credits and subscription charges on a single consolidated bill.
100 b. Provide timely electronic remittance of collected subscription charges to subscription
101 coordinators.
102 c. Payments to subscription coordinators (aggregate subscription charges credit less fees
103 assessed pursuant to §1014A(c)(2) and (3)) would be received by within 60 business days of their billing
104 date.
105 (2) Utilities may recover reasonable administrative and information technology costs of consolidated
106 billing through a tariffed fee approved by the Delaware Public Service Commission. Any such fee may not exceed
107 1% of the value of subscriber bill credits unless the Commission finds a higher fee just and reasonable.
108 (3) Utilities may assess a fee not to exceed 0.25%, in addition to the Commission-approved
109 administrative fee, to hold accounts in escrow to cover instances of customer arrearage. Unused funds shall be
110 refunded to subscription coordinators on an annual basis.
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111 (4) Every 2 years, the Commission, in conjunction with the regulated utility, must perform a review of the
112 fees outlined in this section and provide recommendations to the legislature, as needed, to ensure adequate
113 recovery of costs associated with the implementation of consolidated billing outlined herein.
114 (e) Implementation.
115 (1) On or before April 1, 2027, the Delaware Public Service Commission shall adopt regulations
116 establishing protocols for consolidated billing, including:
117 a. Data exchange standards for electric companies and subscriber organizations, and any
118 approved subscription coordinators.
119 b. Require all electric companies to report billing and crediting errors to the Commission on a
120 regular schedule.
121 c. Impose requirements for monthly application of bill credits to subscriber bills and application
122 of rollover credits.
123 d. Require all electric companies to show applied and banked credits on each bill rendered to a
124 subscriber.
125 e. Implement any additional changes the Commission determines will improve billing and
126 crediting processes for subscribers.
127 (2) The Commission shall convene a stakeholder working group, including Delmarva Power and Light,
128 Subscription Coordinators, the Division of the Public Advocate, representatives from the community solar industry
129 with operations in Delaware, representatives from the residential and commercial solar industry with operations in
130 Delaware, environmental interests, and low-income representatives, to provide recommendations to the
131 Commission to improve the enrollment and operation of the community energy facility program outlined in this
132 title. The Commission must deliver a final report detailing the results and recommendations of the stakeholder
133 working group to the General Assembly no later than January 31, 2027. The report must include recommendations
134 on:
135 a. The consolidated billing framework, though the working group shall prioritize aligning
136 implementation with existing consolidated billing frameworks in other common markets.
137 b. Recommended changes to the Community Energy Facilities program to improve low- to
138 moderate- income customer enrollment, including how to expand elevated discount rates to cover
139 moderate income families, adjusting how an expanded low- to moderate- income customer requirement
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140 shall be applied, and recommending alternative methods of satisfying an expanded minimum for low- to
141 moderate- income customer enrollment, and alternative methods of enrolling customers.
142 c. Methods of strengthening consumer protections relating to participation in the Community
143 Energy Facilities program.
144 d. Any other topic the Commission or stakeholder working group deems necessary to achieve
145 the outcomes of the Community Energy Facilities program as outlined in this title.
146 (3) Consolidated billing shall be available to all community energy facilities no later than October 1,
147 2027.
148 Section 2. This Act shall take effect upon its enactment, except that subsection (d) of § 1014A of Title 26 of the
149 Delaware Code shall govern implementation timelines.
SYNOPSIS
Net crediting is the preferred utility consolidated billing methodology for Delmarva Power and Light as it has
already been successfully implemented in Atlantic City Electric, Pepco Maryland, and Delmarva Maryland jurisdictions.
Net crediting delivers a simpler, more transparent experience for both subscribers and subscription coordinators by netting
subscription charges from monthly credits on behalf of the subscribers, who receive the net credit. Then, the utility
aggregates those subscription charges on behalf of the subscription coordinators, who receive a payment from Delmarva.
Net crediting marries the concept of world class customer experience with market scalability, while also being the lowest
risk option for Delmarva's customers.
Author: Senator Hansen
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