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Senate passes bill to remove Delawarenet‑metering cap to boost residential solar
Summary
The Delaware Senate on March 17 passed Senate Bill 239 to eliminate the state's statutory cap on net metering, the chamber said, a measure supporters said will expand rooftop solar by removing an artificial limit while leaving utilities responsible for local grid decisions.
The Delaware Senate on March 17 passed Senate Bill 239, eliminating the statutory cap on net metering to encourage residential solar installations, the chamber declared after a roll call of 18 yes and 3 absent.
Senator Hansen, who introduced the measure, told colleagues the bill "will encourage the expansion of residential solar in our state by removing the statutory cap on net metering." She explained net metering as the process by which rooftop solar that produces more energy than a home uses sends the excess back to the grid and generates a credit on the customer's electric bill.
Hansen reviewed the policy history: an earlier increase in the cap raised the limit from 5% to 8%, and a prior change stopped year‑end credit reversion to utilities. She said a study by the Sustainable Energy Utility found a measurable cost shift but concluded the shift "is more than made up for by the direct and indirect benefits to all rate payers," and called net‑metered systems "a net benefit for all rate payers." She emphasized the bill removes the state's numerical cap while preserving utilities' authority to determine when and where their systems can safely accept additional net‑metered energy.
Supporters said removing the statutory cap addresses a downturn in rooftop solar installations that followed utilities' use of the prior cap to stop new net‑metering applications in some areas. Opposing arguments or recorded no‑votes did not appear on the Senate floor record for this measure.
The secretary called the roll; the clerk recorded 18 yes and 3 absent and declared SB 239 passed the Senate. The bill text leaves operational control about interconnection and local capacity to utilities; the sponsor noted Drew Slater, executive director of the Sustainable Energy Utility, was available to answer technical questions but did not address the body during floor debate.
The Senate declared SB 239 passed; the transcript does not record further procedural steps on the floor after the vote.
