State electricity profile · EIA monthly through May 2026

Delaware Electricity

As of May 2026, residential electricity in Delaware costs 19.38¢ per kWh (+6.9% vs May 2025). EIA publishes these figures monthly and this page follows them. Delaware's 2025 annual residential electricity rate is 17.13¢/kWh, 1% below the US average. The rate runs below the national average on a mix that is still only 8% renewable. Commercial, industrial and generation-mix figures follow.

19.38¢
May 2026 rate
+6.9%
year over year
17.13¢/kWh
Residential rate
-1.0%
vs US average
8%
Renewable
478.0K
Customers

17.13¢/kWh residential, 12.64¢/kWh commercial

In the U.S. Energy Information Administration's 2025 annual-frequency retail-sales series, Delaware's residential average revenue per kWh is 17.13¢/kWh, with a commercial average of 12.64¢/kWh and an industrial average of 9.64¢/kWh; a separate EIA generation series for 2025 reports 8% of the state's generation from renewables.

  • 1% below the US average vs national residential average
  • 8% renewable generation

The verdict · 2025

Delaware's residential electricity runs 17.13¢/kWh - 1% below the 17.30¢/kWh national average, cheaper than 34% of other states, with 8% of its power from renewables.

This is EIA state average revenue per kWh across 478.0K reported residential customers, a benchmark for comparing states, not the tariff on any single bill. Source: EIA retail-sales API, annual frequency.

Annual rate change

What changed in the 2025 annual EIA period

2024 → 2025
  • Delaware's industrial average rose from 8.49¢/kWh to 9.64¢/kWh between the 2024 and 2025 annual-frequency EIA retail-sales periods, a change of +13.5%.
  • Delaware's commercial average rose from 12.20¢/kWh to 12.64¢/kWh between the 2024 and 2025 annual-frequency EIA retail-sales periods, a change of +3.6%.
  • Delaware's residential average rose from 16.57¢/kWh to 17.13¢/kWh between the 2024 and 2025 annual-frequency EIA retail-sales periods, a change of +3.4%.

Who generates Delaware's electricity

Delaware has 70 operable generating units on EIA's inventory totalling 2,753 MW of net summer capacity. The largest single plant is Hay Road , a natural gas fired combined cycle station operated by Calpine Mid-Atlantic Generation LLC , rated 1,128 MW.

The grid here is run by PJM Interconnection, LLC, the balancing authority that keeps supply and demand matched across the state.

Showing the 16 largest of 36 operable plants in Delaware by net summer capacity.

Largest power plants in Delaware by net summer capacity
Plant Operator Technology County MW
Hay Road Calpine Mid-Atlantic Generation LLC Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle 1,128
Edge Moor Calpine Mid-Atlantic Generation LLC Natural Gas Steam Turbine 695
Garrison Energy Center LLC Garrison Energy Center LLC Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle 309
Delaware City Plant Delaware City Refining Company LLC Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine 199
Energy Center Dover Cartier Energy, LLC Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle 103
Warren F Sam Beasley Generation Station Delaware Municipal Electric Corp Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine 98
ENGIE Solidago Solar Project - Hybrid ENGIE Solidago Solar LLC Solar Photovoltaic 50
Van Sant Station NAES Corporation - (DE) Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine 42
Red Lion Energy Center Diamond State Generation Partners, LLC Other Natural Gas 25
Indian River Generating Station Indian River Operations Inc Petroleum Liquids 16
Milford Solar Farm Milford Solar LLC Solar Photovoltaic 12
Dover Sun Park White Oak Solar Energy LLC Solar Photovoltaic 10
Ameresco Delaware Central AMERESCO Delaware Central Landfill Gas 5
Ameresco Delaware South AMERESCO Delaware South Landfill Gas 5
Heimlich Solar Heimlich Solar Partners LLC Solar Photovoltaic 4
Croda Atlas Point CHP Croda Inc. Landfill Gas 4
Largest electricity generating companies in Delaware by net summer capacity
Operating company Plants Net summer MW
Calpine Mid-Atlantic Generation LLC 2 1,823
Garrison Energy Center LLC 1 309
Delaware City Refining Company LLC 1 199
Cartier Energy, LLC 1 103
Delaware Municipal Electric Corp 1 98
ENGIE Solidago Solar LLC 1 50
NAES Corporation - (DE) 1 42
Diamond State Generation Partners, LLC 2 27
Indian River Operations Inc 1 16
Milford Solar LLC 1 12

Operable units only, from EIA's generator inventory as reported for 2026-05. Capacity is net summer rating, which is what a unit can reliably deliver in peak conditions rather than its nameplate figure. Ownership and operatorship can differ; the company shown is the one EIA records as operating the unit.

Market Overview

Residential Revenue

$912.4M

Commercial Revenue

$540.6M

Residential Sales

5.3M MWh

Residential Customers

478.0K

What Delaware's Electricity Data Tells Us

Residential customers in Delaware pay 17.13¢/kWh in 2025, across 478.0K metered households, placing the state 1% below the national residential average of 17.30¢/kWh. Commercial rates sit at 12.64¢/kWh while industrial buyers pay 9.64¢/kWh. These sector averages describe recorded revenue per kWh; this dataset alone does not establish why they differ. Annual residential sales total 5.3M MWh on roughly $912.4M in utility revenue. Sales and revenue are reported retail-series measures and should not be treated as a local load forecast.

Households carry more of the load here than the headline suggests: Delaware ranks 18 of 51 residential but 14 industrial, the ordinary shape of a rate structure that treats industrial supply as the cheaper class. Natural gas does not merely lead Delaware's grid, it accounts for 85.6% of everything generated in-state, leaving every other fuel a minor share (the nearest, solar, reaches 7.6%). It is the leading fuel in 26 states. Renewable fuels (solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and biomass) account for 7.7% of Delaware's electricity output. These shares describe in-state generation, not a utility-specific customer bill.

Looking back across EIA records, residential prices in Delaware moved from 13.42¢/kWh in 2016 to 17.13¢/kWh in 2025, a 27.6% shift over that window. States charging a similar rate include Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, a useful peer set for a sanity check. Because gas sets the price of the marginal megawatt-hour on a grid built around it, Delaware's residential rate tracks the fuel market with a lag: a gas-price winter shows up on bills months later, and a cheap gas year works its way through the same way. A state average sitting modestly under the national one is the easiest kind to misread, because the spread between utilities inside Delaware can be wider than the gap to the national figure it is being compared against.

-1.0%

Near the US average vs the US residential average

34%

of states have higher rates — Above-average cost

8%

Low renewable share — below the 25% US mix

478.0K

residential customers served

Energy Generation Mix (2025)

How Delaware generates its electricity, from the EIA generation series for 2025 (separate from the 2025 retail-sales price figures above). Renewable sources account for 7.7% of generation.

  • Natural Gas85.6%
  • Solarrenewable7.6%
  • Coal4.7%
  • Petroleum1.9%
  • Windrenewable0.1%

Residential Price History

Delaware residential average revenue per kWh moved from 13.42¢/kWh in 2016 to 17.13¢/kWh in 2025 (27.6% over the window).

Delaware residential avg
17.13¢/kWh 27.6% since 2016
2016 → 2025
12¢14¢16¢18¢ 2016201720182019202020212022202320242025 Delaware residential, 2016: 13.4¢Delaware residential, 2017: 13.4¢Delaware residential, 2018: 12.5¢Delaware residential, 2019: 12.6¢Delaware residential, 2020: 12.6¢Delaware residential, 2021: 12.5¢Delaware residential, 2022: 13.7¢Delaware residential, 2023: 15.7¢Delaware residential, 2024: 16.6¢Delaware residential, 2025: 17.1¢ 17.1¢
  • Delaware residential: 2016, 13.4¢
  • Delaware residential: 2017, 13.4¢
  • Delaware residential: 2018, 12.5¢
  • Delaware residential: 2019, 12.6¢
  • Delaware residential: 2020, 12.6¢
  • Delaware residential: 2021, 12.5¢
  • Delaware residential: 2022, 13.7¢
  • Delaware residential: 2023, 15.7¢
  • Delaware residential: 2024, 16.6¢
  • Delaware residential: 2025, 17.1¢
Delaware residential average revenue per kilowatt-hour, 2016 to 2025. EIA annual-frequency retail-sales. Focus or tap a point for the exact year and value.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, retail-sales API · annual frequency. Delaware full trend →

Delaware Average Price by Sector and Year (¢/kWh)

The chart above tracks households only. In 2025, Delaware households paid 17.13¢/kWh while businesses paid 12.64¢/kWh, a 35.5% residential premium, a wider household-versus-business gap than most states. Every year EIA has published is below, so a single year can be read across all three sectors rather than assembled from three separate EIA queries.

Delaware average revenue per kilowatt-hour by sector, 2016 to 2025, in cents per kilowatt-hour. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration annual retail-sales series.
Year Residential Commercial Industrial
2025 17.13¢/kWh 12.64¢/kWh 9.64¢/kWh
2024 16.57¢/kWh 12.20¢/kWh 8.49¢/kWh
2023 15.73¢/kWh 11.83¢/kWh 7.85¢/kWh
2022 13.71¢/kWh 10.98¢/kWh 8.79¢/kWh
2021 12.52¢/kWh 9.48¢/kWh 7.60¢/kWh
2020 12.56¢/kWh 9.18¢/kWh 6.70¢/kWh
2019 12.55¢/kWh 9.53¢/kWh 7.70¢/kWh
2018 12.53¢/kWh 9.65¢/kWh 7.95¢/kWh
2017 13.35¢/kWh 9.89¢/kWh 7.78¢/kWh
2016 13.42¢/kWh 10.07¢/kWh 8.11¢/kWh

Average revenue per kilowatt-hour, U.S. Energy Information Administration annual-frequency retail-sales series. Revenue per kWh is what customers in each sector actually paid on average, not an advertised tariff rate. Years with no EIA figure for a sector show —.

Where Delaware's residential rate sits nationally

2025 average revenue per kWh across every reporting state

17.13¢/kWh 34th affordability percentile More affordable than 34% of 50 other states

Delaware

all reporting states, equal-width bands

Each bar spans 5¢/kWh. Taller bars contain more states; the dashed marker locates this state. Hover, focus or tap a bar for its exact count and share.

Source U.S. Energy Information Administration, retail-sales API · 2025 annual frequency

How Delaware compares

Residential
Delaware 17.13¢
US average 17.30¢
-1% vs benchmark
Commercial
Delaware 12.64¢
US average 13.41¢
-6% vs benchmark
Industrial
Delaware 9.64¢
US average 8.62¢
+12% vs benchmark

Average revenue per kWh, EIA retail-sales API. Pick a benchmark above to compare Delaware against the US average or a peer state.

Other states led by natural gas

These grids also report natural gas as their largest generation share in the latest EIA mix — a different peer set from the price neighbors above.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does electricity cost in Delaware?
The statewide residential average revenue per kWh in Delaware is 17.13¢/kWh (2025), which is 1% below the national average. Statewide commercial average: 12.64¢/kWh. Statewide industrial average: 9.64¢/kWh.
Where does Delaware's residential electricity rate rank nationally?
Among 51 states with a 2025 EIA residential value, Delaware ranks 34th when rates are ordered from lowest to highest. Its 17.13¢/kWh rate is lower than 17 other states and higher than 33 states, placing it at the 34th affordability percentile.
How much of Delaware's electricity is renewable?
Renewable sources account for 7.7% of Delaware's electricity generation (2025). The top source is natural gas at 85.6%.
Are electricity prices going up in Delaware?
From 2016 to 2025, the statewide annual residential average in Delaware changed from 13.42¢/kWh to 17.13¢/kWh (+27.6%).
What are commercial and industrial electricity rates in Delaware?
Statewide average revenue per kWh in Delaware is 12.64¢/kWh for the commercial sector and 9.64¢/kWh for the industrial sector (2025).
Which energy sources generate the most electricity in Delaware?
Delaware's in-state generation is led by natural gas at 85.6% of the mix, followed by solar at 7.6% (2025). These shares describe electricity generated in the state, not a utility-specific customer bill.
Where does RateWatt's Delaware electricity data come from?
RateWatt uses U.S. Energy Information Administration data filtered to Delaware's reporting code. Annual-frequency sector averages and in-state generation use the latest complete year; the current residential layer uses the latest published month when available. National values appear only as labeled comparisons.

Using Delaware's numbers

With renewables still a small share of generation here, the figures above describe a mix that has further to travel than most. Watch what Delaware builds when its existing thermal capacity retires, because that is the decision the next decade of rates is made of.

  • Delaware sits 1% below the national average, see exactly where it lands among all 50 states. See the rankings
  • Check the multi-year trend before you judge the rate, a low price rising fast can cost more over a decade than a steady one. Delaware price trend
  • Compare Delaware side by side with the US average and peer states using the tool above, then estimate your own bill from your monthly kWh. Cost calculator

Figures are EIA state averages by sector, computed as revenue divided by sales, so delivery and taxes are inside them but not broken out. Your actual rate depends on your utility, plan, and usage, see our disclaimer.

Read with Delaware: understanding electricity rates

Utilities serving Delaware

The 9 utilities that reported bundled residential service in Delaware to EIA Form 861 (2024), largest first. Entity prices below are Form 861 averages for that release, not the same survey as the 2025 retail-sales statewide average above, and not a household tariff. What an individual household pays depends on which of these serves its address.

Residential utilities reporting in Delaware on EIA Form 861 (2024), with average price and customers served
Utility Ownership Customers Avg ¢/kWh
Delmarva Power Investor Owned 275.0K 17.23¢
Delaware Electric Cooperative Cooperative 104.8K 14.22¢
City of Dover - (DE) Municipal 21.6K 15.52¢
City of Newark - (DE) Municipal 11.9K 18.99¢
Town of Middletown - (DE) Municipal 9.1K 17.12¢
City of Milford - (DE) Municipal 7.2K 15.17¢
Tesla Inc. Behind the Meter 3.3K 16.02¢
Sunrun Inc. Behind the Meter 390 12.98¢
Sunnova Behind the Meter 19 18.12¢

The 2 serving 100.0K+ residential customers link to a full profile. Presence in EIA Form 861 is not evidence that a utility is available at a given address or that a customer may choose it.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electricity (Retail Sales and State Electricity Profiles). See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by RateWatt

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Every figure on RateWatt is rendered directly from official U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, no number is typed in by an editor. Statewide prices use the EIA retail-sales annual series (2025). Generation mix uses a separate EIA generation series (2025). Utility rows use Form EIA-861 (2024) and are not averaged into the statewide retail-sales figure. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2025.