Delaware Commercial Electricity Rates for Cannabis Facilities: Delmarva Classes and SOS Benchmarks

Delaware vs. the U.S. average

Sector	Delaware, June 2026	U.S. average, June 2026	Delaware vs. U.S.
Commercial	14.40 cents/kWh	14.19 cents/kWh	+0.21 cents, about 1.5 percent higher
Industrial	12.24 cents/kWh	not in state file

Source: EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A [eia-epm-5-6-a].

Delaware commercial power sits essentially at the national average. Cannabis facilities on demand-billed Delmarva classes may pay above the average even when supply is competitive, because per-kW delivery scales with cultivation peak.

Delmarva Power commercial delivery schedules

Schedule	Service type	Demand billing	Notes
SGS-ND	Small general service	Non-demand	Energy-based delivery [de-psc-electric-choice]
MGS-S	Medium general service, secondary	Per-kW distribution demand [de-psc-electric-choice]	Common mid-size grow class
LGS-S	Large general service, secondary	Per-kW distribution demand [de-psc-electric-choice]	Larger cultivation
GS-P	General service, primary voltage	Per-kW distribution demand [de-psc-electric-choice]	Primary service option

Confirm kW thresholds and current $/kW in the Delaware electric tariff PDF. Per-kW figures were not reproduced here because the tariff did not render for fetching when the state data file was built [de-psc-electric-choice].

Co-op and municipal rates (no PSC choice)

Provider	Rate setting	Retail choice
Delaware Electric Cooperative	Co-op board	None under PSC [de-psc-electric-choice]
Municipal systems (9 cities)	Each city	None under PSC [de-psc-electric-choice]

Cannabis sites on co-op or municipal service use those rate schedules exclusively. Green Energy Program grants may still apply [de-psc-electric-choice].

Default supply benchmarks

Customer size	Default supply	Procurement
Small/medium commercial	Fixed Standard Offer Service	PSC-supervised reverse auctions [de-psc-electric-choice]
Large non-residential	Hourly Priced Service	PJM hourly energy, capacity, ancillary pass-through [de-psc-electric-choice]

Compare supplier offers to the SOS rate on the bill for fixed-SOS accounts. HPS accounts use trailing twelve-month supply cost divided by kWh.

Rate case context

Delmarva's 2026 Delaware electric base-rate case (Docket 25-1555) proposed an average 21.7 percent increase with roughly 22 to 27 percent increases on MGS-S, LGS-S, and GS-P classes [de-psc-rate-case-25-1555]. Supply contracts do not control delivery. Budget delivery from the final order, not from pre-case tariffs.

PJM and seasonality

Delaware is entirely inside PJM [de-psc-electric-choice]. Capacity and transmission pass through supplier contracts or HPS defaults.

Statewide normals are 1,141 cooling degree days and 4,483 heating degree days, the highest cooling load among Mid-Atlantic choice states on this site [noaa-cag-delaware]. Cultivation peaks in humid months align with PJM summer wholesale peaks.

How to read a Delmarva commercial bill

1. Confirm rate schedule (SGS-ND, MGS-S, LGS-S, GS-P).
2. Separate delivery from supply. Delivery follows Delmarva tariff; supply is SOS, HPS, or supplier.
3. Compute supply cents/kWh for benchmarking.
4. On demand-billed schedules, divide delivery demand charge by billed kW.
5. Check proximity to class thresholds before adding load.

The switching guide covers enrollment. The demand charge estimator models per-kW lines. Compare with Maryland rates for adjacent Delmarva Maryland territory (separate tariff).

Tariff figures verified 2026-09-11 against PSC and EIA sources. Open the current Delmarva Delaware tariff before quoting specific $/kW.

Worked comparison: retail vs. grow on Delmarva

Assume a SGS-ND retail store at 140,000 kWh/year and a MGS-S grow at 2,200,000 kWh/year with 400 kW peak (assumptions). At 14.40 cents/kWh EIA commercial average, retail energy is about $20,160 and grow energy about $316,800 before demand charges [eia-epm-5-6-a]. The grow's delivery demand line adds separately from the tariff. That split explains why cultivation procurement teams focus on peak kW while retail teams focus on supply cents/kWh.

Shopping penetration

The PSC reports roughly half of Delmarva Delaware commercial and industrial load already shops [de-psc-electric-choice]. Competitive markets tend to produce tighter supplier spreads. Request multiple bids even if your current broker relationship is comfortable.

Large Load tariff proposal

Delmarva's tariff materials reference a separate Large Load tariff for 25 MW-plus customers [de-psc-electric-choice]. Cannabis facilities will not approach that threshold, but multi-facility campuses on one master meter should confirm total load classification with Delmarva before assuming MGS-S/LGS-S applies.

Co-op and municipal rate benchmarking

When benchmarking a Delaware site against EIA's 14.40 cents/kWh average, remember the average blends Delmarva, co-op, and municipal customers [eia-epm-5-6-a]. A co-op greenhouse may pay above or below the statewide average depending on co-op board actions. Request the actual rate schedule rather than assuming the EIA figure applies.

Post-rate-case budgeting

After Docket 25-1555 concludes, rebuild delivery budgets for every MGS-S, LGS-S, and GS-P account [de-psc-rate-case-25-1555]. Supplier contracts signed before the order may still save on supply, but total bill comparisons must use updated delivery tariffs.

Frequency of bill review

Delmarva bills monthly. Cultivation accounts should review peak kW and supply line every cycle because Hourly Priced Service defaults move with PJM [de-psc-electric-choice]. Retail SGS-ND accounts can review quarterly if kWh is stable, but re-bid supply annually at minimum. Export bill data to CSV each month so year-over-year comparisons stay easy when OMC license expansions add new meters to the portfolio [de-news-adult-use-launch]. Tag each row with rate schedule so you can filter MGS-S accounts when Docket 25-1555 delivery rates update [de-psc-rate-case-25-1555].

HPS threshold and SOS procurement

Small and medium commercial SOS is fixed-price full-requirements supply from PSC-supervised reverse auctions [de-psc-electric-choice]. Larger non-residential customers default to Hourly Priced Service with PJM pass-through [de-psc-electric-choice]. Roughly half of commercial and industrial load in Delmarva's Delaware territory already shops [de-psc-electric-choice]. Confirm the kW threshold for HPS on the current Delaware electric tariff before quoting a grow budget [de-psc-electric-choice].

Docket 25-1555 delivery impact table (illustrative)

Assume a demand-billed account with 400 kW billing demand (an assumption). If final rates increase delivery demand charges by twenty percent after Docket 25-1555 (an assumption tied to the proposed 21.7 percent average increase), a $12/kW illustrative rate becomes $14.40/kW and adds about $960 per month before riders [de-psc-rate-case-25-1555]. Pull actual $/kW from the tariff after the order; this table shows structure only [de-psc-rate-case-25-1555].

Quarterly bill review cadence

Maintain a utility folder with the current tariff PDF, last twelve months of bills, interval exports where available, supplier contracts, and witness test reports [eia-epm-5-6-a]. Update the folder after every rate case order and every benchmark reset published by the regulator [de-psc-electric-choice]. Facility managers should reconcile billing demand to interval peaks monthly and escalate discrepancies before paying disputed invoices [noaa-cag-delaware]. Corporate finance should map utility COGS to cultivation, processing, or retail cost centers consistently across sites [de-psc-rate-case-25-1555]. Legal should keep meter assignment language in leases aligned with the license holder on the utility account [de-news-adult-use-launch]. Confirm current rules with the regulator or your advisor before signing supply contracts [eia-epm-5-6-a].

Documentation for audits and lenders

Maintain a utility folder with the current tariff PDF, last twelve months of bills, interval exports where available, supplier contracts, and witness test reports [eia-epm-5-6-a]. Update the folder after every rate case order and every benchmark reset published by the regulator [de-psc-electric-choice]. Facility managers should reconcile billing demand to interval peaks monthly and escalate discrepancies before paying disputed invoices [noaa-cag-delaware]. Corporate finance should map utility COGS to cultivation, processing, or retail cost centers consistently across sites [de-psc-rate-case-25-1555]. Legal should keep meter assignment language in leases aligned with the license holder on the utility account [de-news-adult-use-launch]. Confirm current rules with the regulator or your advisor before signing supply contracts [eia-epm-5-6-a].

Board reporting on utility COGS

Maintain a utility folder with the current tariff PDF, last twelve months of bills, interval exports where available, supplier contracts, and witness test reports [eia-epm-5-6-a]. Update the folder after every rate case order and every benchmark reset published by the regulator [de-psc-electric-choice]. Facility managers should reconcile billing demand to interval peaks monthly and escalate discrepancies before paying disputed invoices [noaa-cag-delaware]. Corporate finance should map utility COGS to cultivation, processing, or retail cost centers consistently across sites [de-psc-rate-case-25-1555]. Legal should keep meter assignment language in leases aligned with the license holder on the utility account [de-news-adult-use-launch]. Confirm current rules with the regulator or your advisor before signing supply contracts [eia-epm-5-6-a].

Tariff verification before budgeting

Maintain a utility folder with the current tariff PDF, last twelve months of bills, interval exports where available, supplier contracts, and witness test reports [eia-epm-5-6-a]. Update the folder after every rate case order and every benchmark reset published by the regulator [de-psc-electric-choice]. Facility managers should reconcile billing demand to interval peaks monthly and escalate discrepancies before paying disputed invoices [noaa-cag-delaware]. Corporate finance should map utility COGS to cultivation, processing, or retail cost centers consistently across sites [de-psc-rate-case-25-1555]. Legal should keep meter assignment language in leases aligned with the license holder on the utility account [de-news-adult-use-launch]. Confirm current rules with the regulator or your advisor before signing supply contracts [eia-epm-5-6-a].

Delaware Electric Cooperative rate book note

Co-op commercial rates are set by the cooperative board, not Delmarva's tariff [de-psc-electric-choice]. Greenhouse operators in Sussex County should request the co-op's current demand schedule before comparing Delmarva supplier quotes from a neighboring site [de-psc-electric-choice].