Bill that could slash gas and electric rates for low income families draws concern over surcharges
DELAWARE – A bill introduced by Delaware Democrats would slash electric and gas rates by up to 20% for low income families, but it’s seeing opposition due to its proposed added surcharges for other ratepayers.
One lawmaker says those surcharges would make times even tougher for middle income families.
The legislation would offer lowered rates to those who qualify for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
The cost of credits and incremental administrative costs to manage the program would be deferred to a regulatory asset and recovered via a surcharge applicable to all customer classes.
That means customers across the board could see increases in costs to offset the program.
Representative Bryan Shupe said the bill is unfair for middle-income families.
“The unfairness lies in that the bills aren’t on the usage of the electricity or the gas, they’re based on the income level, so someone who is in the middle class could actually use less electricity or less gas, but they will be charged more because they happen to earn a higher income or bring in more money for their family than someone who does not,” said Rep. Shupe.
Shupe pointed to another bill that the General Assembly already passed this session, which uses Sustainable Energy Utility funding for low income individuals facing higher bills.
“We already have a bill that was passed this year in the General Assembly that uses funds earmarked through government funds for low income families to help with these one time bills that were higher in January, but to put this permanently in place and to put it in the free market just goes against free market principles,” said Shupe.
Shupe went on to say he thinks the bill is politically motivated and doesn’t deal with the root cause of the higher rate increases.
He says that root cause is that a very, very small portion of electric and gas is produced and generated here on the peninsula, leading to higher fines on gas and electric companies, which in turn leads to higher bills for customers.
