Delmarva Power Ties Rate Hike Request To Infrastructure For Growth In Customer Base - Who Should Pay For Housing Development Infrastructure?

Update: DE State House Majority writes ~

Rep. John Kowalko was among those who spoke out Monday against Delmarva Power's $42 million rate hike request. Rep. Kowalko and 19 other lawmakers sent a letter to the Public Service Commission in April opposing the proposed fee increase.

(WDEL) Tom Lehman reports ~ Delmarva Power customers voice opposition to rate hike at hearing

Delmarva Power requested the rate hike earlier this year.  

........Dan Brown of Brookside said he's concerned about those on fixed-incomes, because the average Delmarva Power customer will pay an additional $7.63 a month under the company's requested rate increase. "I think that if you just look at the average person on the street, you're going to miss the whole tale of people who can't show up to these meetings or know why their rates are going up," Brown says. 

Three other Brookside residents who attended the meeting said they would have difficult affording or couldn't afford the rate increase sought by Delmarva Power.

No wonder Gary Stockbridge hired former land use attorney and now Committee of 100 officer, Pam Scott. Her specialty all the way down the line is in turning the public dollars into private sector profit through development deal manipulations. 

(Scott on vacation - from her public facebook site)

Delmarva Power needs more money to pay for growth - poles and lines are one of the many hidden costs of new housing development. But why should the poor and those on fixed income pay for private development growth through rate hikes? ~

Delmarva Power spokesman Nick Morici said the rate hike is being used to help pay for infrastructure upgrades. He pointed to the company's power grid as being one area that could be improved, especially in light of a growing customer base. 

.........Delmarva Power has implemented an interim $2.5 million rate increase effective June 1 while regulators review the full revenue request. You can view the whole schedule for state regulators' review on the public advocate's website.

Two upcoming public hearings are the rate hike have been scheduled in central and southern Delaware: 

Thursday, Aug. 8 at 7 p.m.
Delaware Tech Owens Campus Arts & Science Center18800 Seashore HighwayGeorgetown, DE, 19947Sussex County
Tuesday Aug. 13, 7 p.m.
Public Service Commission Hearing Room861 Silver Lake Blvd.Suite 100 Dover, DE, 19904Kent County

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