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SB242 • 2025

AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 78, VOLUME 85 OF THE LAWS OF DELAWARE ENTITLED “AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 26 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES AND UTILITY RATES.”

AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 78, VOLUME 85 OF THE LAWS OF DELAWARE ENTITLED “AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 26 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES AND UTILITY RATES.”

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Last action
2026-02-26
Official status
Introduced and Assigned to Environment, Energy & Transportation Committee in Senate
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 78, VOLUME 85 OF THE LAWS OF DELAWARE ENTITLED “AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 26 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES AND UTILITY RATES.”

AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 78, VOLUME 85 OF THE LAWS OF DELAWARE ENTITLED “AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 26 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES AND UTILITY RATES.” Senate Bill No.

What This Bill Does

  • AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 78, VOLUME 85 OF THE LAWS OF DELAWARE ENTITLED “AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 26 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES AND UTILITY RATES.” Senate Bill No.
  • 59 (Chapter 78, Volume 85 of the Laws of Delaware) was passed by the General Assembly on June 26, 2025, and signed by the Governor on July 16, 2025.
  • Senate Bill No.
  • 59 changed the standard applied by the Public Service Commission ("Commission") when deciding public utility rate cases.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-02-26 Delaware General Assembly

    Introduced and Assigned to Environment, Energy & Transportation Committee in Senate

Official Summary Text

AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 78, VOLUME 85 OF THE LAWS OF DELAWARE ENTITLED “AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 26 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES AND UTILITY RATES.”
Senate Bill No. 59 (Chapter 78, Volume 85 of the Laws of Delaware) was passed by the General Assembly on June 26, 2025, and signed by the Governor on July 16, 2025. Senate Bill No. 59 changed the standard applied by the Public Service Commission ("Commission") when deciding public utility rate cases. The standard applied before the enactment of Senate Bill No. 59 was the “business judgment rule” standard. Senate Bill No. 59 changed the standard applied by the Commission to the “prudence” standard. Forty-eight states in the United States apply the “prudence” standard when setting public utility rates, not the "business judgement rule" standard that has been applied in Delaware. Although Section 3 of Senate Bill No. 59 stated that the Act takes effect on January 1, 2026, following its enactment into law, it was the intent of the General Assembly that the Commission must apply the “prudence" standard retroactively in rate case decisions, where the public utility filed the rate case procee