Delaware State News
DOVER — October is National Energy Awareness Month, and many power companies throughout the area are trying to make consumers more aware of ways they can cut down energy costs, while Delaware looks toward new technologies to offset the rising cost of energy bills.
Bridget A. Shelton, a spokeswoman for Delmarva Power, reports a 4-percent increase in energy rates since May 2007 to June 1, 2008. In terms of real money, that’s about $4 a month for an individual household.
Along with rising energy cost, an increased number of consumers have had their electricity turned off.
According to Delmarva Power, from January to August 2007, 6,025 customers had their electricity turned off. That equates to 2 percent of total residential customers. During the same time in 2008, 6,352 customers had their electric shut off.
"There are some people that simply can’t pay," Ms. Shelton said. "It’s tough for people who just cannot muster anything."
However, disconnections are not the only problem. There are many more people behind in payment than have been disconnected. While there were 327 more disconnections than last year, the number of people behind in payment jumped from 10 to 13 percent.
"Statistics are higher on both fronts," Ms. Shelton said.
A 3-percent increase from last year may not sound like much, but when put in terms of real money, that’s almost $3 million owed. Delmarva Power reports that of its 288,000 Delaware residential customers, 35,000 are in arrears, accounting for $21.5 million in outstanding debt, up from last year’s $18.8 million deficit.
"Electric prices are much higher than a few years ago," said Bruce H. Burcat, executive director of the Delaware Public Service Commission.
Delmarva Power increased its rates 59 percent in May 2006. Municipal utilities have also had to raise their rates.
With a sagging economy and depressed stock market, people are having a harder time keeping up with their bills.
Terry A. Tieman, a city administrator, said, "Dover seems to be unaffected, as we had more disconnections last year than this year and the city writes off as uncollectible less than 1 percent of the total revenue."
With fewer than 20,000 customers, Dover represents a small portion of Delaware’s energy consumption. Ms. Tieman said the state’s capital hasn’t seen a marked increase in disconnections.
But in other towns, people are struggling.
Beth M. Butts, a Milford resident, says she has been struggling to pay the energy bills for her 1,400-square-foot home for some months now.
"My husband has had to continually switch money out of our savings," she said.
With residents fighting to make payments on time, power companies are trying to make their customers more aware of the programs and educational resources that are available.
In November and February, Delmarva Power sends out envelopes in its newsletter and bills with information about the Good Neighbor Energy Fund, a program in which residents can donate money to help low-income residents. Delmarva Power matches every $3 a customer donates with $1 of its own. The money is sent to the Salvation Army, which distributes it to families in need.
Delmarva Power also has a Community Outreach Team that talks to social service agencies to find out who is struggling. The focus is to educate people about low- or no-cost ways to save on monthly bills.
The federal government has increased funding to LIHEAP, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance program, Mr. Burcat said. In addition to government programs, Delaware is looking toward new technologies to offset the increasing cost of energy.
Delaware will add land-based wind farms to its supply portfolio by the beginning of next year, he said. Wind farms and other similar ways of harnessing renewable energy sources require a lot of capital to start out.
"You have to buy the turbines and anchor everything with concrete, and it gets expensive," Mr. Burcat said. "Once the structures are in place, you don’t have to worry about changes in fuel costs like a coal plant would, but the wind doesn’t always blow, so, you do have to factor in intermittency."
The wind farms are expected to account for about 3 percent of the total energy supply for Delaware, he said, and estimated costs are modestly below the market price.
