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Senate approves study and pilot program for energy storage; amendment bars cost recovery from ratepayers
Summary
The Delaware Senate passed Senate Joint Resolution No. 3 directing the Delaware Sustainable Energy Utility to study energy storage costs and benefits and to run pilot projects with electric utilities. An amendment removed language that would have allowed Delmarva Power to recover pilot costs from ratepayers; the measure passed on a roll call.
The Delaware Senate on March 27 approved Senate Joint Resolution No. 3, directing the Delaware Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU) to study the costs and benefits of energy storage systems and to run pilot projects with the state—s electric utilities.
Senator Hansen, speaking as sponsor on the floor, said the resolution will require the SEU to analyze storage "in front of and behind the meter" and to produce a preliminary status report by Dec. 31, 2025, and a comprehensive report by June 1, 2026. "An energy storage system is a technological device or a group of devices that store energy generated from various sources so that it can be used later," Hansen said on the floor, summarizing the technology and potential benefits.
The nut graf: the resolution aims to give Delaware data and a pilot framework as battery and other storage technologies grow rapidly and costs fall. Supporters said storage can stabilize the grid, make renewable generation more usable, and reduce the need for new transmission or substation investments.
On the floor Hansen described multiple system types that fall under the study—s scope, including batteries (the most common), hydrogen, compressed air and pumped hydro, and said paired battery-storage systems are increasingly seen as a way to capture generation that otherwise would be curtailed.
A floor amendment (Senate Amendment No. 2) removed language that would have allowed Delmarva Power to recover from ratepayers any pilot project costs "not otherwise covered by the SEU." As amended, Hansen said, Delmarva will develop its pilot "within the scope of funding from the SEU and any available grant funding," and the explicit cost-recovery mechanism was struck.
Roll call votes on both the amendment and the final resolution recorded 18 yes and 3 absent; the measure was declared passed. Senator Richardson asked to be added as a cosponsor after the floor action; several other senators asked that their names be recorded as supporters during floor consideration.
Ending: The SEU is scheduled to file a preliminary status report by Dec. 31, 2025, and a full report by June 1, 2026. The resolution does not itself appropriate money; implementation details and any funding for pilots were left to the SEU and participating utilities.
