Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation - Green Energy Fund

Summary

Delaware Green Energy Funds

The Delaware Green Energy Fund was created in 1999 as the part of the deregulation of Delaware's electric utilities. Under Title 26 Delaware Code § 363, the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards Act, any electric company or cooperative may exempt itself from the states renewable portfolio standard by contributing to the states Green Energy Fund or by creating its own independent Green Energy Fund. The Green Energy Fund is to be used in support of energy efficiency technologies, renewable energy technologies, or demand side management programs, into which it shall make payments of at least $0.178 for each megawatt-hour it sells, transmits, or distributes in this State. For more information on the state's green energy funds visit.

Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation's Green Energy Fund

The Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation (DEMEC), a joint action agency and wholesale electric company representing the state's nine municipal utilities, opted out of the RPS requirements on behalf of the municipal utilities, and the utilities created their own funds. This Municipal Green Energy Fund is an independent, self-administered fund separate from the State's Green Energy Fund. The DEMEC green energy funds support the municipal Green Energy Program Incentives, which include rebates for solar electric, solar heating, geothermal heat pumps, and wind power. As of February 2016, only three member utilities- City of Dover, City of Newark, and City of Milford- use their fund to provide grants to its customers; other member utilities have discontinued to provide individual grants, they have reserved their funds only for community based projects. 

DEMEC municipal utility members include: Newark, New Castle, Middletown, Dover, Smyrna, Seaford, Lewes, Clayton and Milford. Each municipal utility has its own distinct fund. Customers of one utility cannot access another utility's fund revenues. As a result, some of the utilities' funds are very limited. Estimated funds held by participating members, as of 2016, are as follows:

• City of Dover: $10,000
• City of Newark: $40,000
• City of Milford: $20,000
• City of Seaford: NA
• City of Lewes: NA
• Town of Middletown: NA
• City of New Castle: NA
• Town of Smyrna: NA
• Town of Clayton: NA