Delaware House approves utility shutoff protections, school remote‑comment rule and primary date change

DOVER, Del. — On April 8, 2025, the Delaware House of Representatives approved legislation that updates customer protections against utility disconnections, sets a new requirement for school boards to offer remote public comment, and moves the statewide primary date, while adopting several ceremonial resolutions by voice vote.

The most consequential measure, House Substitute 1 for House Bill 62, creates new limits and procedural requirements for utilities seeking to terminate residential electric and gas service for nonpayment. Representative Ross Levin, the bill sponsor, described the package as an effort to modernize protections last written in the early 2000s and to reflect current communication methods. "We need to be doing everything we can to contact individuals and allow them to rectify their situation," Ross Levin said on the House floor. The bill— amended in committee and on the floor—passed 28–12 with one member absent.

Under the amendment adopted on the floor, utilities must use weather monitoring at the airport in the county where a dwelling is located, make at least two attempts to contact an account holder during the heating season (reduced from three), and may use electronic notice at customers' preference rather than first-class mail. The amendment raised the effective implementation window from 60 to 90 days at the request of stakeholder Delmarva Power and allowed Friday shutoffs only where the utility can restore service outside normal business hours and on weekends. The bill also prohibits termination of service between Dec. 21 and Jan. 1 and extends protections to municipal electric companies. The measure passed after floor discussion about balancing consumer protections and utility operations.

The…