Delaware

How these bills aim to make utilities more transparent, accountable to ratepayers

Published

10 months ago

March 20, 2025

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How these bills aim to make utilities more transparent, accountable to ratepayers

Delaware senators unanimously passed three bills that seek to protect consumers and force the state’s energy industry to be more transparent and accountable to rate payers.
The bills’ primary sponsor, Sen. Stephanie Hansen, dubbed Thursday “rate payer relief day.”
The bills now go to the state House of Representatives for consideration.

Lawmakers in the Delaware Senate joined forces Thursday to unanimously pass three bills seeking to protect consumers and force the state’s energy industry to be more transparent and accountable to ratepayers.

Senate bills aim to protect consumers, force utility and energy transmission operators to be transparent and consider the ratepayer in their decision-making, and limit how much in annual capital expenses Delmarva Power can recover.

“Today is ratepayer relief day here in the state Senate,” the bills’ primary sponsor, Sen. Stephanie Hansen, said on the chamber floor Thursday afternoon. “The strain that this has placed on Delaware families has been enormous, and more than some can bear.”

The legislation was prompted following jumps in energy bills across the state this winter, the cause of which has become a hot topic among Delawareans, some of whom have placed the blame primarily on renewable energy.

Hundreds of angry consumers have filled town halls demanding answers about their bills and questioning how state lawmakers were going to fix it, Hansen said.

Republicans also signed on as cosponsors to the legislation.

Republican Sen. Eric Buckson said he and his colleagues are “joining forces” on this issue because the legislation “impacts and helps Delawareans throughout the state who are dealing with high costs.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Dave Sokola applauded Hansen’s efforts, championing her expertise in energy policy over the last several years.

“Her expertise and diligence to put Delaware on a sustainable path toward more certain energy reliability have resulted in three thoughtful bills that will protect ratepayers from future undue cost increases,” he said. “Despite the misinformation being spread by Republicans about the root causes for these increases, Sen. Hansen has remained resolute in her mission to hold our utility companies accountable to their customers by restricting their ability to needlessly raise rates.”

Using the ‘prudence standard’

Senate Bill 59 changes the standards for what costs can be included in a utility’s rate base pitched to the Public Service Commission.

Delaware is one of two states that doesn’t use the “prudence” standard and instead uses the “business judgment rule,” which favors the utility in rate cases. A switch to the prudence standard raises the utility’s responsibility to consider economic risk to ratepayers.

Hansen said the prudence rule looks “at the objective reasonableness” of an expenditure based on what the “utility knew or should have known” when the expenditure was made and ask if it was prudent.

“Other states made this switch because they recognize that regulated utilities are generally monopolies that serve a particular area, and the customers are captive,” the senator said.

Cap on recoverable expenses

Senate Bill 60 places a cap on annual capital expenses recoverable by Delmarva Power.

It does not allow for recovery for lobbying, political contributions, charitable contributions, and certain advertising and public relations activities.

An amendment to the bill restricts recovering from membership dues if it involves lobbying or similar activities intended to influence the outcome of legislation, rules, ballot measures or regulatory decisions.

It also adds an exception to the $125 million cap on annual capital expenses in the event of an emergency or extraordinary circumstances like a natural disaster or tariffs.

Grid operator transparency

Senate Bill 61 calls for transparency by PJM Interconnection, which is the regional electrical grid operator controlling generators and transmission lines across the Mid-Atlantic region.

Delaware joins neighboring states like Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland in raising concerns about the operator’s decisions. Currently, utilities vote in private on rules at PJM, which impact electric rates, grid reliability and transitioning to clean energy.

The First State’s bill will require Delmarva Power and the state’s Division of the Public Advocate to annually report their votes at PJM to the Public Service Commission.

“PJM’s decision-making affects all of us,” Hansen said. “Although the final voting on issues by PJM is public, the voting that occurs at the lower subcommittee meetings is not and this is where the policy is developed which leads to the issues that bubble up to the top.”

What’s next?

The bills now go to the state House of Representatives for consideration.

Got a tip? Contact Amanda Fries at afries@delawareonline.com, or by calling or texting 302-598-5507.

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Delaware

Delaware Department of Technology & Information implements CloudNuro SaaS Management Platform

Published

7 hours ago

January 10, 2026

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Delaware Department of Technology & Information implements CloudNuro SaaS Management Platform

Written by

Distributed by EIN Presswire

Delaware Department of Technology & Information implements CloudNuro to improve its SaaS (Salesforce) governance, cost allocation, and chargeback automation.

State and government organizations face growing pressure to improve transparency and maximize budgets. Delaware is taking a forward-looking, data-driven approach to drive long-term efficiency.”

— Pratul Patel, Chief Product Officer, CloudNuro

CHICAGO, IL, UNITED STATES, January 9, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — CloudNuro, the leader in the Public Sector, State and Local Government for the enterprise SaaS, Cloud, and AI governance, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with the State of Delaware Department of Technology & Information (DTI) to modernize and unify Salesforce management across the state agencies.

Under this initiative, CloudNuro will deliver a comprehensive SaaS governance using the FinOps Foundation framework – FinOps-for-SaaS for Salesforce license visibility, cost allocation, and chargeback management. The platform will streamline contract ingestion, automate license-to-usage mapping, and support configurable cost models, including markup, license-based allocation, usage-based chargeback, and hybrid structures. The result is a clear, defensible, and auditable view of technology spending across the state environment.

By adopting CloudNuro’s automated workflows and intelligence-driven governance, the State of Delaware is expected to reduce manual administrative effort. The initiative also creates a single source of truth for Salesforce utilization across agencies and departments, strengthening financial oversight and enabling data-driven budgeting.

Key capabilities Delaware will gain include:
• Single-pane-of-glass view of Salesforce subscriptions, usage, users, and costs across the state
• Centralized ingestion of Salesforce contracts, entitlements, and renewals
• Automated mapping of licenses to actual usage patterns
• Configurable chargeback models (license-based, consumption-based, or hybrid)
• Agency-level dashboards for cost transparency and optimization
• Cross-agency visibility into unused, underutilized, or misaligned licenses
• Standardized governance to support audits, procurement workflows and renewal planning

“We’re proud to support the State of Delaware in bringing financial discipline and transparency to Salesforce governance across agencies,” said Shyam Kumar, CEO of CloudNuro. “This engagement reflects the growing need for accountable, data-driven technology management in the public sector.”

This engagement reflects CloudNuro’s expanding role in supporting public sector digital modernization. By providing automated governance, FinOps-ready cost insights, and seamless alignment with procurement, IT, and finance operations, CloudNuro helps government organizations strengthen accountability, reduce waste, and streamline complex technology environments. The CloudNuro FinOps platform is used by several large public-sector agencies, including Los Angeles Metro, Cook County, DuPage County, the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, and the City of Aurora.

For public-sector IT leaders, CloudNuro delivers a modernized approach to SaaS and cloud governance – purpose-built for the scale, rigor, and compliance needs of state operations.

About CloudNuro Corp:
CloudNuro is a leader in Enterprise SaaS Management Platforms, giving enterprises and government unmatched visibility, governance, and cost optimization. Recognized twice in a row by Gartner in the SaaS Management Platforms Magic Quadrant and named a Leader in the Info-Tech SoftwareReviews Data Quadrant, CloudNuro is trusted by several public sector and government agencies, including Cook County, DuPage County, City of Aurora, Los Angeles Metro, Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, State of Delaware, and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

As the only Unified FinOps Platform for the Enterprise, CloudNuro brings AI, SaaS and IaaS management together in a unified view. With a 15-minute setup and measurable results in under 24 hours, CloudNuro gives IT teams a fast path to value.
For more information, visit www.cloudnuro.ai.

Media Contact
Shyam Kumar
CEO, CloudNuro
📞 +1 630-347-0833
✉️ shyam.kumar@cloudnuro.com
🌐 www.cloudnuro.ai

Shyam Kumar
CloudNuro Corp
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Delaware

Delaware County’s 250th events aim to boost local economy

Published

19 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Delaware County’s 250th events aim to boost local economy

DELAWARE COUNTY – Delaware County is gearing up for a year-long celebration of the United States’ 250th anniversary, bringing together community partners for a series of events and programs.

Delaware County’s plans for the semiquincentennial

The Delaware County America 250 Commission hosted a “We the People” party to unveil plans for the upcoming celebrations.

The events aim to educate and connect the local community while drawing visitors from outside Philadelphia to explore the area’s rich history.

What they’re saying:

“Delaware County is not just watching from the sidelines, we are proud to be an essential part of a massive regional and national celebration,” said Christine Reuther, Delaware County Council Vice Chair.

Andrea Silva, director of the Delaware County America 250 Commission, highlighted the diverse themes that will be showcased throughout the year.

Celebrating 250 years of history

The backstory:

Friday’s event celebrated Delaware County’s 250-year history, with different tables reflecting various themes.

Attendees included Colonial Farmstead, Penn’s Woods Winery, and Pathways to Freedom.

The programming will feature over 100 events, including the Battle for Independence: Amazing Race to Brandywine and the Irish America 250 Kick Off on Jan. 14.

The celebrations are expected to leave a lasting legacy, with hopes of boosting the local economy.

“We want to see real economic impact for our local businesses as visitors from around the world come to shop on our main streets and stay in our towns and eat in our restaurants,” said Reuther.

What’s next:

This year’s county event specifics can be found here.

The Source: Information from the Delaware County America 250 Commission.

America 250Delaware County

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Delaware

Wilmington’s first homicide of 2026 claims life of 19-year-old

Published

1 day ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Wilmington’s first homicide of 2026 claims life of 19-year-old

A 19-year-old man was shot dead in Wilmington’s Southbridge neighborhood in the early hours of Jan. 9, police said.

Wilmington officers arriving to the 200 block of S. Claymont St. about 3:30 a.m. found the teen there.

The teen, whom police have not named, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Anyone with information about this shooting should contact Wilmington Police Detective Derek Haines at (302) 576-3656. People can also provide information to Delaware Crime Stoppers at (800) TIP-3333 or delawarecrimestoppers.com.

Violence by the numbers

This is the first homicide reported this year in Delaware, which last year saw a slight drop in all violent killings.

Delaware police reported 52 people being killed in violent crimes in 2025, a drop of nearly 12% when compared with 59 people killed in 2024, according to a Delaware Online/The News Journal database.

While the number of people killed in homicides statewide is down, the number of people killed by gunfire in Delaware was up in 2025 for the third year in a row.

According to the Delaware Online database, 47 were shot dead in Delaware last year. That was one more victim (46) than in 2024, three more (44) than in 2023 and nine more (38) than in 2022.

Despite the increase in gun-related deaths, there were fewer people shot last year in Delaware for the second year in a row.

Police reported 164 people being shot last year in Delaware. The previous year saw 195 people shot and police reported 210 people being shot in 2023.

This was the fewest people shot in Delaware since 2018, when police reported 146 people being shot statewide.

Send tips or story ideas to Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com.

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