The Rutgers baseball team had a rough outing in Conway S.C. last weekend as they got swept by Coastal Carolina. Rutgers has now lost its last two series and sits at 5-7 on the year.

It doesn’t get much worse than the first game of the series for Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights were beaten 10-0 in 7 innings with the game being ended due to a “Run rule,” which means that if a team is winning by 10 or more runs after the 7th inning, they can end the game. Coastal Carolina ran in four in the first inning and did not look back as their bats shelled Rutgers, and the Knights’ bats failed to answer.

The following two games would be a little more competitive, but the Chaunticleers would still beat the Knights 6-5 in game two and 6-1 in game three. Game two would start off in the Knights’ favor as they took a 4-2 lead through the first 4 innings. Rutgers would score again in the top of the seventh to take a 5-2 lead, but they would surrender 2 in the bottom of the seventh. After a scoreless eighth inning and top of the ninth for Rutgers, Coastal Carolina would blast two single home runs in the bottom of the ninth to seal the victory.

In game three, Rutgers would jump out to a 1-0 lead at the end of the first inning. Unfortunately for Rutgers, the bats went quiet after that, unable to get a single run the rest of the game. Coastal Carolina, however, would find major success in the third inning thanks to an infield single, passed ball, wild pitch, and single to left field. They would take a 4-1 lead after three and tack on two insurance runs from there to end the game on a six run streak.

The last week did have one bright spot for Rutgers baseball, and that was their 8-2 win over Delaware on Tuesday.

Jack Kirchner got the start for the second straight game and delivered three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out three. Rutgers would plate three runs in the second. Delaware would respond by plating two runs of their own in the top of the seventh before Rutgers did the same thing in the later half of the inning. Rutgers would plate three more in the eighth, with Mike Timberlake tossing two scoreless innings to finish the game for the Knights.

The Knights will be back in action against Iowa at home on Friday with first pitch at 2 p.m.

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• The proposed animal sanctuary is on about 11.5 acres of donated land on Hartly Road.
• First State Animal Center and SPCA plans to provide a home for about 10 animals at a time, mostly older horses and livestock along with a few dogs.
• A public hearing on the plan is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, March 6 at the Kent County Regional Planning Commission meeting in Dover.

A proposed animal sanctuary near Hartly has led to a stampede of questions about how many animals and what kind will be housed at the property.

The plan is on the agenda at the Kent County Regional Planning Commission’s public hearing at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 6, at the County Administrative Complex, 555 S. Bay Road, Dover.

The hearing is also accessible by phone by calling 1-408-418-9388 with access code 23399384113 and online with instructions on the county’s website.

First State Animal Center and SPCA is proposing a home for animals like horses and other livestock and a few older dogs, according to John Parana, First State’s executive director.

The residential and agricultural property, about 11.5 acres at 3048 Hartly Road north of Halltown Road, has been donated to the animal center which operates at 32 Shelter Circle, Camden.

The county’s category for this proposed use is “commercial kennel,” and that has probably led to the speculation about what is planned, Parana said.

Some people on social media have said the sanctuary will be housing dozens of dogs, perhaps aggressive dogs, with concerns about all the barking.

“That’s been the major complaint,” Parana said, adding that the animal center has received dozens of phone calls asking if it’s true. It is not, he said.

“We will have primarily larger animals that have been neglected, abused or are in need medical attention and a place to live out the rest of their life quietly,” Parana said. “A lot of them have been used as work animals, but the owners don’t have the resources to care for them anymore.”

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County Assistant Planning Director Kris Connelly said the definition for “commercial kennel” comes from the county code: “any building or land used for the housing, breeding, training or care of animals for commercial purposes. This use includes animal hospitals.” 

No limit to the number of animals has been specified in the applicant’s proposal, Connelly said.

Parana said about 10 animals will be at the property at any given time, mostly ones referred to First State Animal Center and SPCA by government agencies like the Delaware Department of Agriculture.

At least one caretaker will be at the site 24 hours a day.

“We will have a few dogs, but they won’t be vicious,” Parana said. “They will mostly likely be terminally ill, and we’ll be keeping them comfortable.”

An example would be a dog with diabetes whose owner can’t afford insulin and isn’t available to give the dog shots at the required times.

“People don’t adopt a dog like that,” Parana said.

More: Delaware man denied request to retrieve horse killed in hit-and-run from landfill

Another main complaint Parana has seen from opponents to the sanctuary is that it will hurt property values in the area.

“We are working with the county to create a park-like setting,” Parana said. “The property is fenced in now, but the county requires a privacy fence around the entire property and over 200 trees as buffers, and we will do it. We need a place for these animals.”

He said the area near the property has multiple commercial businesses, including a scrapyard, a concrete and asphalt recycling center, an automobile body shop and even an Amish kennel that breeds and raises dogs.

While the staff at First State Animal Center and SPCA has received complaints and has seen social media comments against the proposal, they have also received about 300 comments of support from people who think the sanctuary is a good idea, Parana said.

On the center’s Facebook page, the staff posted “an urgent answer to all the phone calls we are receiving” in response to what they described as “misinformation being spread in the Hartly area.” The post gives information about what First State Animal Center is planning at the sanctuary.

The property is in the county’s 6th District, represented by District Commissioner Paul Hertz, who didn’t immediately respond to a call or email Wednesday afternoon about the proposal.

After the public hearing March 6, the Regional Planning Commission is scheduled to make a recommendation about the animal sanctuary at its business meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 13.

Reporter Ben Mace covers real estate, development and business news. Reach him at rmace@gannett.com.

Role of green energy and the region’s power grid operator

While some blame the skyrocketing utility bills on fees associated with renewable energy programs, Vavala argues that both those fees and rising natural gas prices contribute to only a small fraction of a person’s bill.

While Delmarva paid almost $13 million into the state’s renewable energy portfolio last year, charges related to renewable compliance makeup around 3% of a customer’s bill, according to those reviewed by WHYY.

“Yes, there is a component of the bill that’s related to transmission costs and supply costs. Yes, there’s a component of the bill that’s related to green energy and programs to support that,” Vavala said. “But it is not the key driver in what we’ve seen in terms of this phenomenon occurring for our customers.”

Adding to confusion among ratepayers, Delmarva last November began to include a breakdown of delivery and supply charges on its bills.

Customers have always paid these charges, but they weren’t previously explained on their bills. Delaware residents said they were shocked to learn for the first time that these distribution fees account for more than half of their bill.

Though customers have always paid for delivery and supply, Delmarva bills indicate Delaware residents paid slightly more for the supply of gas in January, which had nothing to do with green energy, but rather cold temperatures.

“Weather does cause increased demand, and so supply-demand crunch, price goes up. So, the reason that people’s bills are going up so high is that, in part, they’re using more, and, in part, the price that is set by the wholesale market, which is also increasing,” said Shelley Welton, presidential distinguished professor of law and energy policy at Penn Carey Law and the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy.

The supply price increase for Delmarva customers in January shows a hike of about 1 cent per 100 cubic feet over December’s bills.

A spokesperson for Delmarva Power said it purchases about half of what it projects it will need in the summer when prices are low.

“Locking in prices, also known as hedging, seeks to limit the impact of wholesale price volatility that may occur throughout the year,” said spokesperson Zach Chizar. “We also continue to make upgrades to our Liquefied Natural Gas Plant in Wilmington, replacing and upgrading systems that give customers a more predictable gas cost rate so that we can secure more natural gas and avoid challenges during peak periods.”

Adding to the shocking cost could be that some January bills encompassed 36 days, rather than the typical 30 days.

One of Meyer’s proposals includes working to expand the state’s renewable energy portfolio.

“The more we get — solar, offshore wind, various alternatives — will help us expand the diversity of energy sources, increase the supply of sustainable energy sources, and in many cases, sources that are good for the environment for the long term,” he said.

Welton said decreasing reliance on natural gas could help control prices. States that rely heavily on natural gas are facing greater energy costs than in areas that use more renewable energy, she said. Like many, she points to the region’s power grid operator, PJM Interconnection.

“You have tons of new resources lined up asking to connect to the grid — and these are mostly clean energy resources. And if you’ve got these resources online, if you’ve got a lot more capacity in the region, you would see prices start to come down. But PJM has been very slow to help these resources connect to the grid,” Welton said.

While freezing temperatures and the resulting usage drove up utility bills in January, costs of electricity are also determined by a complex pricing system overseen by PJM and are expected to climb for Delawareans starting in July, regardless of the weather. That’s because of an increase in certain electricity generation fees, called capacity costs, that the grid operator announced last year. The move will impact 65 million residents in the Mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes regions. In January, PJM agreed to a price cap after Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro sued.

Delmarva’s Vavala said it’s important PJM incentivizes and encourages all forms of generation — whether that’s renewables, nuclear or traditional forms of power such as natural gas. He also calls for improved transparency in the rate-making process and about investment portfolios.