Graded Extensive and tightening. 13 laws, orders, rulings and local actions, each with its source, reviewed 23 October 2026.
HB 445, signed 26 Aug 2026, makes data centers build their own generation, 25% before connecting; the PSC paused Delmarva connections above 25 MW in Oct 2025.
HB 233, signed 26 Aug 2026, puts large loads in a separate rate class with an incremental cost test, exit fees, bonding and first curtailment.
The Coastal Zone Act ruling upheld in March 2026 killed the 1,200 MW Project Washington; New Castle (March 2026) and Kent (July 2026) counties set buffers.
HB 310, signed Aug 2026, cuts data centers off from job-creation tax credits unless they bring their own generation; Delaware has no sales tax to exempt.
SB 312, signed 26 Aug 2026, bars state and local governments from signing NDAs with data center developers; SB 308 adds load forecast oversight.
Scored on rules in force, 1 to 5. 5 is the most regulated. Pending rules set the arrow.
Governor Meyer signed a package on 26 August 2026 that puts large loads in a separate, higher rate class (HB 233), requires data centers to build new generation that meets renewable portfolio standards within 10 years (HB 445), restricts job-creation tax credits for them (HB 310) and bars state and local governments from signing non-disclosure agreements with developers (SB 312). The Public Service Commission paused new connections above 25 MW in Delmarva Power territory in October 2025 until a large-load tariff is in place, and that tariff case (Docket 25-0826) had still not been decided as of October 2026. The 1,200 MW Project Washington near Delaware City cannot proceed as designed after the state environment agency ruled it violates the Coastal Zone Act and the developer withdrew its court appeal in July 2026. New Castle County adopted data center zoning rules in March 2026 and Kent County followed in July 2026. Delaware has no state sales tax, so there is no sales tax exemption to speak of.
The commission still has to finish the Delmarva large-load tariff in Docket 25-0826 and align it with HB 233; no decision had been found as of 23 October 2026, and the pause on new connections above 25 MW holds until it is set. Dover's proposed 18-month moratorium cleared a council committee unanimously on 11 August 2026, and a full council vote expected around October 2026 had not been confirmed. Kent County's attorney is reviewing whether a county moratorium or ban is legally possible. Starwood says it is looking for a redesign of Project Washington, and a 300 MW proposal near St. Georges is at an early stage among four large-load requests before Delmarva.
Yes. Delaware has a statewide pause in force as of 23 October 2026: the regulator's pause on new large-load connections.
Tightening. Delaware is graded Extensive, which means a statewide halt on permits or connections, or binding rules that stop most new projects. Bring-your-own clean power law signed; Project Washington blocked. The outlook above says what is pending.
Delaware sits in PJM. The grid operator decides how a new large load is studied, what it must bring or pay, and whether it can be curtailed first; the state decides siting, permits, tariffs and incentives.
Yes. Delaware has paused, narrowed or ended a data center incentive in 2025 or 2026: HB 310: job-creation tax credits restricted for data centers.
On Genloop's five-line rubric (1 least regulated, 5 most) Delaware scores grid connection 5, power rates 4, siting and land use 3, tax treatment 4, permits and water 3, a mean of 3.8. The most regulated line is grid connection: HB 445, signed 26 Aug 2026, makes data centers build their own generation, 25% before connecting; the PSC paused Delmarva connections above 25 MW in Oct 2025.
13 items: each is a law, order, tariff, ruling, utility action or local decision that changes what a data center must do, pay or disclose, or where it may be built. Failed and pending measures are marked. Each links to its source.
Signed 26 August 2026. Delmarva Power must put large energy users in their own rate class so they pay their own energy, infrastructure and capacity costs, with early exit fees, bonding, an incremental cost test and first-in-line curtailment at peak. The bill was described in March 2026 as applying from 20 MW.
Source: whyy.orgSigned 26 August 2026. Data centers must build new generation to cover their demand within 10 years, with 25 percent in place before connecting, at least 50 percent of backup power from storage, and no coal, peaker or diesel plants for baseload supply.
Source: sierraclub.orgSigned with the August 2026 package. Press reports say data centers can no longer claim job-creation tax credits; the bill's sponsors' allies describe it as limiting the credit to projects that bring their own generation under HB 445.
Source: whyy.orgSB 312, signed 26 August 2026, bars state agencies, counties and municipalities from signing non-disclosure agreements with data center developers and operators. SB 308, the Load Forecast Accountability Act, signed 23 July 2026, gives the commission oversight of Delmarva's load forecasts to PJM, requires financial commitments before large loads are counted and stops projects shopped to several states from being double counted.
Source: legiscan.comSigned 26 August 2026 alongside the data center package. It limits and adds oversight to non-mandatory capital spending that monopoly utilities such as Delmarva Power can recover from residential ratepayers.
Source: news.delaware.govCouncilwoman Donyale Hall's ordinance would halt acceptance, processing, review, approval and permitting of new data centers within city limits for 18 months while Dover writes permanent rules. A council committee voted unanimously on 11 August 2026 to send it to the full council via planning and zoning; a council vote was expected around October 2026 and had not been confirmed.
Source: delawarepublic.orgThe environment secretary ruled that the 1,200 MW campus, with 516 diesel backup generators and about 2.5 million gallons of stored diesel, is prohibited heavy industry in the coastal zone. A state board upheld the ruling in March 2026 and Starwood Digital Ventures withdrew its Superior Court appeal in early July 2026.
Source: newsfromthestates.comOn 21 July 2026 Kent County Levy Court unanimously approved an ordinance limiting data centers in unincorporated areas to certain industrial zones, with a 300-foot buffer from homes, vegetative screening, noise limits and proof of adequate water and electric service. Projects meeting the rules can still proceed by right without a hearing; the county attorney is reviewing whether a moratorium or ban is legally possible. Sen. Eric Buckson's statewide moratorium bill, SB 353, did not get a vote before adjournment.
Source: wboc.comSigned 10 June 2026. The cooperative must build the infrastructure a data center needs if the developer pays for it, but is not obliged to supply the electricity.
Source: legiscan.comRecords released in June 2026 show four requests under review: 1,200 MW and 300 MW in New Castle County, 100 MW in Kent County and one of undetermined size, plus a withdrawn 30 MW project.
Source: technical.lyAdopted 12-0 on 11 March 2026. Data centers must sit 1,000 feet from residential zones, schools and daycare centers (500 feet with a site-specific noise study), open-loop cooling is prohibited, and screening landscaping and bufferyards are required. The original draft's 55-decibel limit and lighting rules were eased. It applies only to applications filed after enactment, so Starwood's Project Washington is exempt unless it opts in.
Source: delawarepublic.orgDelmarva's proposed tariff applies at 25 MW of peak demand (the utility also floated 50 MW) with upfront financial commitments and terms for projects that shrink or withdraw. Comments ran to 6 April 2026, the final tariff was due 27 April, and a hearing examiner's findings were expected in summer 2026.
Source: technical.lyOn 15 October 2025 the Public Service Commission opened the large-load tariff proceeding and said connections of new users above 25 MW in Delmarva territory are paused until the tariff is set.
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