Sen. Stephanie Hansen further cemented her place as one of the General Assembly’s leading voices on the environment and energy by passing legislation that will significantly increase Delaware’s use of renewable energy for decades to come.
Passed with bipartisan support, Senate Bill 33 extended Delaware’s landmark Renewable Portfolio Standards and gradually expanded the volume of energy that must be generated from renewable sources until it reaches 40 percent by 2035.
First adopted in 2005, Delaware’s Renewable Portfolio Standard created a competitive market for utilities to acquire a certain percentage of their retail electricity from renewable sources, such as wind or solar energy.
While the state’s electric cooperative and municipal utilities are invited to voluntarily meet the same standard, the original law required Delaware’s lone regulated utility to acquire 25 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2025.
SB 33 continued that progress for another decade, and also addressed previously unresolved issues around renewable energy credits and solar alternative compliance payments established by the Renewable Portfolio Standard.
