Rep. Frank Burns

This Act requires regulated utilities to establish a separate rate class for large energy use facilities that mitigates the risk of costs associated with expanding infrastructure and maintaining reliability in the face of growing demand from being shifted to residential, small business, and other electric customers. Wherever possible, the costs of large energy use facilities should be directly assigned to those facilities, and where direct assignment is not possible, the costs should be allocated to the class of large energy use facilities and not to other customer classes. To accomplish this, the Act sets forth minimum requirements for Electric Service Agreements (ESAs) and Transmission Security Agreement (TSAs) to be in place for any large energy use facility. The Commission shall promulgate regulations to implement these agreements. ESAs shall be reviewed and approved by the Commission prior to the interconnection of a large energy use facility and provide a regulatory framework to enable responsible developers of large energy use facilities to enter into agreements to fairly allocate costs among customer classes. The Public Service Commission will consider several factors in determining whether to approve an ESA, including consistency with the Commission’s regulations; whether the ESA and tariff ensure that all costs attributable to the large energy use facility are assigned to the class of large energy use facilities; whether other customers are adequately protected from the risk of paying stranded asset costs; the impact of the large energy use facility on delivering safe, adequate, and reliability electricity; the impact on the State, including the economy, other ratepayers, and environmental impacts; and the viability of the developer of the facility. In combination, the ESAs and the large load tariff shall ensure that, wherever possible, distribution infrastructure investment costs, capacity procurement costs, reliability backstop procurement costs, transmission infrastructure costs, and study costs attributable to a large energy use facility are all directly assigned to that large energy use facility. Where direct assignment is not possible, these costs should be allocated to the class of large energy use customers. The Commission shall develop an “incremental cost test” to measure the revenues and costs from a large energy use facility to ensure that there are not cost shifts to other customers. The Act further establishes interruptability requirements for large energy use facilities to ensure other customers are protected from reliability impacts caused by large energy use facilities. Facilities that construct or cause to be constructed new in state generation may exempt themselves from interruptability. Finally, the Act requires large energy use facilities to contribute to the low income fund and green energy fund at higher rates than other customers and requires large energy use facilities to contribute to renewable portfolio standard costs and qualified fuel cell provider costs. The Act takes effect upon enactment and regulated utilities must file an application to establish rates required under this Act within 180 days of the effective date.

This Act safeguards public health by requiring the temporary cessation, or mitigation, of commercial activities that materially elevate nearby residential temperatures during periods of extreme heat. This Act shall be known as the “Community Heat Protection and Industrial Accountability Act.” This Act requires DNREC to develop standardized methodologies for measuring and modeling thermal impacts. DNREC may assess fines of up to $10,000 per day, issue mandatory shut down orders, or issue additional penalties for willful non-compliance. Affected residents will also have a private right of action to file a lawsuit. Facilities, that are not data centers, zoned for heavy industrial use, such as oil refineries, are exempt from the requirements of this chapter. The Department shall promulgate regulations to implement this Act within 18 months of enactment.

This Act prohibits the sale of class B firefighting foam that contains intentionally added PFAS chemicals starting January 1, 2028. An exception is provided for a bulk petroleum facility, provided that the bulk petroleum facility applies to DNREC for a 5-year exemption. The exemption period may be extended for additional 2-year periods, up to a total of 13 years. If an exempt bulk petroleum facility uses foam containing PFAS chemicals, they must notify DNREC. Under this Act, a manufacturer must notify its customers in the State regarding the prohibition of firefighting foam containing PFAS chemicals by January 1, 2027. By March 1, 2028, the manufacturer must recall or reimburse purchasers, unless the purchaser is exempt as a bulk petroleum facility. The recall must include the safe transport and storage of PFAS-containing firefighting foam until the Department identifies a safe disposal technology. A manufacturer in violation of this Act is subject to a $5,000 civil penalty for a first offense and a $10,000 for a second, or subsequent offense. Finally, this Act requires that firefighting personal protective equipment (PPE) that contains PFAS chemicals be sold with a written notice that states that the PPE contains PFAS chemicals. The manufacturer or seller of the PPE must retain the written notice on file for at least 3 years from the date of transaction. Failure to provide written notice of PFAS chemicals in PPE will subject the manufacturer or seller to a civil penalty of $100 per occurrence. House Substitute 1 to HB 356 differs from HB 356 in the following ways: (1) It replaces the term “terminal” with the broader term “bulk petroleum facility” which clarifies those facilities that may apply for an exemption under this Act. (2) Clarifies the definition of PFAS or polyfluoroalkyl substances. (3) Extends the exemption period for bulk petroleum facilities from 1 to 5 years. (4) Provides additional 2-year extensions to the 5-year exemption period, so long as the total exemption period does not exceed 13 years. (5) Permits a bulk petroleum facility to use PFAS-containing firefighting foam to aid another facility. (6) Removes the requirement that DNREC assist state agencies and local governments in identifying and obtaining class B firefighting foam that does not contain PFAS chemicals.

This Act is the first leg of a constitutional amendment that would establish a fundamental right for all employees to organize and to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing for the purpose of negotiating wages, hours, and working conditions, and to protect their economic welfare and safety at work. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend the Delaware Constitution. In addition, as the first leg of a constitutional amendment, the next General Assembly must pass an act concurring with this Act for it to become part of the Delaware Constitution.

This Act requires that an electric supplier’s interconnection rules, for purposes of net-metering, align with the most recent version of the Interstate Renewable Energy Council’s Model Interconnection Procedures (Procedures) within 12 months of the Procedures’ latest publishing date.

This concurrent resolution declares that May 17-23, 2026, is "Children's Research Week" and recognizes and honors Nemours Children’s Health Delaware Valley Pediatric Research for its outstanding contributions to improving children’s health, advancing pediatric science, and strengthening the health and well-being of families in Delaware and beyond.

This concurrent resolution urges PJM Interconnection to extend price collars for 2 years at the current rate of $325/mw-day and to implement reforms to its interconnection queue to allow for increased generation capacity to come online faster and prevent the need for price collars in the future.

This Act repeals the Hearing Aid Loan Bank Program, as the program is no longer operational. The Program was created pursuant to Volume 74, Chapter 109 of the Laws of Delaware (2003), for the purpose of lending hearing aids on a temporary basis to children under 3 years old. Loans were initially for 6 months with possible 3-month extensions granted by the Program Manager. The need for the Hearing Aid Loan Bank Program has steadily decreased over time and the Program is now obsolete. As a result, the Division of Public Health no longer stocks the Hearing Aid Loan Bank.

The Public Health Emergency Planning Commission was established in 2002 and directed to deliver to the Governor a plan for responding to a public health emergency that addressed at least 21 specific provisions. Since then, that single plan has evolved into an overarching Public Health Emergency Operations Coordination Plan, which is a strategic plan that provides a broad context for the execution of public health emergency response and recovery. There are over 70 additional “plans” or annexes that provide additional procedural guidance that have been developed by DHSS in partnership with other state agencies and external stakeholders such as hospitals. The Public Health Emergency Operations Coordination Plan will still be updated every 2 years by DHSS and other state agency and private partners. The Public Health Emergency Planning Commission will be renamed the Public Health Emergency Planning Council. It will review the Public Health Emergency Operations Coordination Plan every 2 years. It will also continue in its advisory capacity to the Governor whenever a public health emergency is declared. It must meet within 30 days of the declaration of a state of emergency due to a public health emergency, and at least every 30 days until the public health emergency is lifted. In the absence of a public health emergency the Council must meet at least once a year. This Act also makes technical corrections to existing statutory language.

This Act updates Chapter 10A of Title 16, the Healthcare-Associated Infections Disclosure Act, to ensure consistency with correct terminology, such as psychiatric changes to behavioral health facilities and to adherence to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) requirements. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.