Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Denies Rehearing on Artificial Island Costs

A rehearing request on the cost allocation of the $278-million Artificial Island transmission line project has been denied by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.  A fair allocation has been established for the FERC that will greatly reduce future costs for businesses and residential electric ratepayers on Delmarva.  Initial calculations would have had Delaware and Maryland families funding over 90% of the costs of the project but receiving only a fraction of the benefits.  The adjusted allocation will reduce Delmarva’s share to just over 10% – a savings of over $200-million to everyone on the Delmarva peninsula.

Delaware Governor John Carney and Maryland Governor Larry Hogan both opposed the initial cost breakdown and released this statement on the FERC ruling:

“All Delaware families and businesses who pay electric bills every month had a stake in this issue. This decision means Delawareans won’t unfairly bear the cost of this project in their electric bills, and everyone will pay their fair share,” said Governor Carney. “We understand there may be appeals, but this is a real win for Delawareans and our neighbors across the Delmarva Peninsula. We worked closely with Governor Hogan, members of our federal delegation, the Delaware Public Service Commission, and Delaware’s Public Advocate to achieve a fair outcome for Delawareans. I want to thank the members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for their consideration of this important issue, and for their fair decision on behalf of the people of Delaware.”

“Since the beginning of this process, our administration has worked tirelessly to ensure that Delmarva Peninsula ratepayers and taxpayers did not have to disproportionately pay hundreds of millions of dollars associated with this project,” said Governor Hogan. “The decision from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, to significantly reduce future costs to just over 10 percent, is a win for both Maryland and Delaware citizens. We will continue to work with all parties to ensure an equitable solution is reached for our citizens, and we thank Governor Carney for his partnership as well as the commission for their important work on this issue.”

Delaware’s federal delegation – Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons, and Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester – also issued the following statement on FERC’s ruling:

 “The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s decision is one that we’ve been working toward for a long time now. Our Delaware and Maryland ratepayers were being asked to pay an unfair share of this project, and we went to work to prove this. FERC’s corrected course is just the outcome we hoped to deliver to ratepayers on Delmarva, and was a great team effort on behalf of all of our constituents.”