Graded Extensive and tightening. 14 laws, orders, rulings and local actions, each with its source, reviewed 2 November 2026.
HB 445, signed 26 Aug 2026, makes data centers build their own generation, 25% before connecting; the PSC paused Delmarva connections above 25 MW in Oct 2025.
HB 233, signed 26 Aug 2026, puts large loads in a separate rate class with an incremental cost test, exit fees, bonding and first curtailment.
The Coastal Zone Act ruling killed the 1,200 MW Project Washington; New Castle and Kent counties set buffers; Dover paused sites above 30 MW on 12 Oct 2026.
HB 310, signed Aug 2026, cuts data centers off from job-creation tax credits unless they bring their own generation; Delaware has no sales tax to exempt.
SB 312, signed 26 Aug 2026, bars state and local governments from signing NDAs with data center developers; SB 308 adds load forecast oversight.
Scored on rules in force, 1 to 5. 5 is the most regulated. Pending rules set the arrow.
Governor Meyer signed a package on 26 August 2026 that puts large loads in a separate, higher rate class (HB 233), requires data centers to build new generation that meets renewable portfolio standards within 10 years (HB 445), restricts job-creation tax credits for them (HB 310) and bars state and local governments from signing non-disclosure agreements with developers (SB 312). The Public Service Commission paused new connections above 25 MW in Delmarva Power territory in October 2025 until a large-load tariff is in place, and that tariff case (Docket 25-0826) had still not been decided as of late October 2026. The 1,200 MW Project Washington near Delaware City cannot proceed as designed after the state environment agency ruled it violates the Coastal Zone Act and the developer withdrew its court appeal in July 2026. New Castle County adopted data center zoning rules in March 2026, Kent County followed in July 2026, and Dover adopted the state's first moratorium, 18 months for facilities above 30 MW, on 12 October 2026. Delaware has no state sales tax, so there is no sales tax exemption to speak of.
The commission still has to finish the Delmarva large-load tariff in Docket 25-0826 and align it with HB 233; its news page listed no decision as of 28 October 2026, and the pause on new connections above 25 MW holds until the tariff is set. Dover's 18-month moratorium on facilities above 30 MW, adopted unanimously on 12 October 2026, runs to about April 2028. Kent County's attorney is reviewing whether a county moratorium or ban is legally possible and one commissioner is pursuing removal of by-right approval. Starwood says it is working with regulators and the community on a path forward for Project Washington but has not said how it could proceed; Delmarva's records list a 300 MW New Castle County request and a 100 MW Kent County request pending cluster study. Delmarva's base rate case (Docket 25-1555) held public comment sessions on 20 and 21 October 2026. SB 308 requires the commission to report on Delmarva's load forecasts by 1 May each year.
Yes. Delaware has a statewide pause in force as of 2 November 2026: the regulator's pause on new large-load connections. Local moratoria are also in force in Dover.
Tightening. Delaware is graded Extensive, which means a statewide halt on permits or connections, or binding rules that stop most new projects. Bring-your-own clean power law signed; Project Washington blocked. The outlook above says what is pending.
Delaware sits in PJM. The grid operator decides how a new large load is studied, what it must bring or pay, and whether it can be curtailed first; the state decides siting, permits, tariffs and incentives.
Yes. Delaware has paused, narrowed or ended a data center incentive in 2025 or 2026: HB 310: job-creation tax credits restricted for data centers.
On Genloop's five-line rubric (1 least regulated, 5 most) Delaware scores grid connection 5, power rates 4, siting and land use 4, tax treatment 4, permits and water 3, a mean of 4.0. The most regulated line is grid connection: HB 445, signed 26 Aug 2026, makes data centers build their own generation, 25% before connecting; the PSC paused Delmarva connections above 25 MW in Oct 2025.
14 items: each is a law, order, tariff, ruling, utility action or local decision that changes what a data center must do, pay or disclose, or where it may be built. Failed and pending measures are marked. Each links to its source.
Dover City Council voted unanimously on 12 October 2026 to adopt Councilwoman Donyale Hall's ordinance, the first data center moratorium in Delaware. For 18 months the city will not accept, process, review or approve applications for large energy-use facilities, including data centers above 30 MW, while staff study grid capacity and write permanent rules. No application was pending at the time. The ordinance took effect on approval.
Source: spotlightdelaware.orgSigned 26 August 2026. Delmarva Power must put large energy users in their own rate class so they pay their own energy, infrastructure and capacity costs, with early exit fees, bonding, an incremental cost test and first-in-line curtailment at peak. The bill was described in March 2026 as applying from 20 MW.
Source: whyy.orgSigned 26 August 2026. Data centers must build new generation to cover their demand within 10 years, with 25 percent in place before connecting, at least 50 percent of backup power from storage, and no coal, peaker or diesel plants for baseload supply.
Source: sierraclub.orgSigned 26 August 2026 with the package. Large energy-use facilities can no longer qualify for job-creation business tax credits or license fee reductions. The Sierra Club recap describes the credit as available only to a data center that brings its own generation under HB 445.
Source: whyy.orgSB 312, signed 26 August 2026 and effective on signature, bars state agencies, counties and municipalities from signing non-disclosure agreements about large-scale data centers, defined as those using or capable of using 100 MW or more. SB 308, the Load Forecast Accountability Act, signed 23 July 2026, gives the commission oversight of Delmarva's load forecasts to PJM, requires financial commitments before large loads are counted, stops projects shopped to several states from being double counted and requires an annual commission report by 1 May.
Source: legis.delaware.govSigned 26 August 2026 alongside the data center package. It limits and adds oversight to non-mandatory capital spending that monopoly utilities such as Delmarva Power can recover from residential ratepayers.
Source: news.delaware.govOn 17 August 2026 Harrington City Council voted unanimously against a zoning change that would have allowed a 24 MW data center at the former Harrington Logistics property. The city had weighed a data center ordinance for about 10 months. Kent County's ordinance does not apply inside city limits, and the 100 MW Kent County request in Delmarva's records remained unidentified.
Source: technical.lyDNREC Secretary Greg Patterson ruled on 4 February 2026 (decision CZA-448SD) that the 1,200 MW campus, with 516 diesel backup generators and about 2.5 million gallons of stored diesel, is prohibited heavy industry in the coastal zone. The Coastal Zone Industrial Control Board upheld the ruling on 26 March 2026 and Starwood Digital Ventures withdrew its Superior Court appeal in early July 2026. Starwood says it is still working with regulators, labor and the community to find a pathway forward.
Source: newsfromthestates.comOn 21 July 2026 Kent County Levy Court unanimously approved an ordinance limiting data centers in unincorporated areas to two industrial zoning districts, with a 300-foot buffer from homes, 6-foot vegetative screening, noise limits and written documentation from water and electric providers. Projects meeting the rules can proceed by right without a hearing; one commissioner is pursuing a change to remove by-right approval and the county attorney is reviewing whether a ban is legally possible. Sen. Eric Buckson's statewide moratorium bill, SB 353, did not get a vote before adjournment.
Source: wboc.comSigned before 1 July 2026. The cooperative must build the infrastructure a data center needs if the developer pays for it, but is not obliged to supply electricity to new loads projected above 50 MW. The cooperative's chief executive said he would require such facilities to generate their own power or contract with a third-party supplier.
Source: legiscan.comDelmarva's response to the Public Advocate, obtained by Technical.ly in June 2026, lists four requests under review: 1,200 MW and 300 MW in New Castle County, 100 MW in Kent County and one of undetermined size in New Castle County, plus a withdrawn 30 MW project. The 300 MW and 100 MW requests were pending cluster study. The Kent County developer and site had not been identified as of August 2026.
Source: technical.lyAdopted 12-0 on 10 March 2026 and signed by County Executive Marcus Henry on 18 March 2026. Data centers must sit 1,000 feet from residential zones, schools and daycare centers (500 feet with a site-specific noise study), open-loop cooling is prohibited, decommissioning funds are required, and screening and bufferyards are required. The original draft's noise and lighting rules were eased. It applies only to applications filed after enactment, so Starwood's Project Washington is exempt unless it opts in.
Source: delawarepublic.orgDelmarva's proposed tariff applies at 25 MW of peak demand (the utility also floated 50 MW) with upfront financial commitments and terms for projects that shrink or withdraw. Comments ran to 6 April 2026 and the final tariff was due 27 April 2026. Commission staff, DNREC and the Public Advocate filed joint comments on 9 April 2026 asking for a more deliberate process aligned with PJM. No commission decision was listed on the commission's news page as of 28 October 2026.
Source: technical.lyOn 15 October 2025 the Public Service Commission granted a staff and Public Advocate petition to open a large-load tariff docket and paused interconnection of new large load facilities, defined as 25 MW or more, in Delmarva Power territory until the tariff is established. Delmarva supported the petition.
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