Delaware HB 445 bring-your-own-generation mandate (2026)

Delaware — HB 445: Bring-Your-Own-Generation Mandate Requiring Large Energy Users to Secure 100% of Their Power, Including a Clean Energy Share (Signed August 26, 2026)
Delaware · Del. H.B. 445, 153rd Gen. Assemb. (2026)

Status
In effect
Took effect
August 26, 2026
Applies to
Large energy-use facilities including hyperscale data centers operating in Delaware, which must produce or secure 100% of their power requirement including a clean/renewable share.
Enforced by
Delaware Public Service Commission; Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (clean energy component)

Delaware House Bill 445 requires large energy-use facilities to produce or secure 100 percent of the power they need, including a share of clean or renewable energy, so they do not strain the public grid. The Sierra Club called it a first-of-its-kind clean energy mandate for hyperscale data centers, and the distinguishing feature is that it does not merely charge large users more for grid power — it requires them to bring their own. That changes the question from who pays for new generation to who builds it. A facility cannot satisfy the requirement by accepting a higher tariff; it has to arrange supply. Combined with HB 233, which puts large users in their own rate class and makes them pay the full cost of infrastructure upgrades, Delaware has closed both the cost-shifting route and the capacity-strain route in the same package. Governor Matt Meyer signed it on August 26, 2026 with three companion bills, all effective immediately.

Who is protected: Delaware ratepayers and the public grid, protected from the capacity strain of hyperscale load by requiring large users to procure their own power rather than draw on shared capacity.

Legal detail

Delaware House Bill 445, signed by Gov. Matt Meyer August 26, 2026, effective immediately. Imposes a BRING-YOUR-OWN-GENERATION requirement on large energy-use facilities: the facility must produce or secure 100 percent of its required power, including a share of clean or renewable energy, to prevent strain on the public grid. Structurally distinct from the cost-allocation approach dominant elsewhere in 2026 — a tariff or rate class determines who pays for grid capacity, whereas a BYOG mandate determines who must procure it, and cannot be satisfied by paying more. Characterised by the Sierra Club as the first clean energy mandate of its kind for hyperscale data centers. Operates together with HB 233 (separate rate class and full infrastructure cost responsibility), HB 310 (tax credit disqualification) and SB 326 (utility capital expenditure oversight), all signed the same day. Statutory definition of 'large energy-use facility', the required clean/renewable percentage, and the compliance and verification mechanism are NOT established from available coverage and should be read from the enrolled text before this entry is relied on for specifics.

Key facts

JurisdictionDelaware
LevelState
StrengthStronger
EnactedAugust 26, 2026
CitationDel. H.B. 445, 153rd Gen. Assemb. (2026)
Private right of actionNo, agency enforcement only
PenaltiesNot established from available coverage
Topicsdata-center siting and energy · consumer protection · government use of AI
Legal analysisDelaware Governor Signs First-of-its-Kind Bill to Power Data Centers with Clean Energy — Sierra Club

More AI rules in Delaware

Related data-center siting and energy rules elsewhere

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