The Senate Environment, Energy & Transportation and House Natural Resources & Energy committees held a joint informational hearing on the impact of large load facilities — particularly data centers — on the PJM grid, ratepayer costs, and Delaware's economic development options. No legislation was voted on; the hearing exposed sharp divisions between members urging economic participation in the 'next industrial revolution' and those warning that ratepayers are already absorbing billions in data-center-driven capacity costs.
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Senator Huxtable asked why the collar could not be lowered from its current level, noting it saved $13 billion at the current level. Lori Murphy Lee (PJM) responded that a permanent price collar does not work with a market and that you cannot cap prices permanently and still have a market. Huxtable replied that there are usually guide rails on any market.
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“Compared to last year's assessment, we saw a couple things. First, the magnitude of the projected risk is higher, and we also see that the risk is appearing a little bit sooner. In fact, the risk emerges in this year's assessment in 2029, you can see there on the slide. But last year that risk was emerging in the early 2000-30s. Again, not a prediction that there's going to be an outage in 2029. But things have worsened.”
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Sign in to subscribe2026 and this is a joint Senate and House committee meeting to discuss large energy load usage in Delaware and the region. The purpose of the meeting is to set a current baseline understanding of how large loads have developed in the region and their current and anticipated effects on our shared electric grid. Also to learn how PJM is approaching these issues and setting their guidelines for large load integration. To learn how other states have approached these questions legislatively to understand what impacts Delaware should be considering regarding large load siting, whether it's in state or out of state and learn what the experience has been in the state of Virginia, which is known for being the world's largest concentration of large load energy users in an area known as Data Center Alley. From an energy and economics perspective, all of this is in anticipation of the State of Delaware setting its own large load policy. I'm State Senator Stephanie Hanson and I'm the Chair of the Senate Environment, Energy and Transportation Committee. Joining me shortly will be my Vice Chair, Russ Huxtable on the dais, as well as the Chair of the House Natural Resources and Energy…
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