NEWS RELEASE

No Increase to Residential Electric and Water Rates in 2026, Get a Discount for eBilling

The Municipal Services Commission (MSC) completed a Cost-of-Service Study and rate designs with Utility Financial Solutions in 2024 (UFS) a national firm specializing in rate designs and cost projections for municipally owned utilities. In the later months of 2025 MSC & UFS updated the financial projection. The updated financial projection shows a healthy financial status without the need for an increase in revenue.

While the financial projection shows no additional revenue should be generated, there are slight adjustments that need to be made to revenue generated by different customer classifications in order for MSC to continue to move towards charging each classification its “cost-of-service”, or how much of the revenue burden should fall to each classification based on the unique requirements of each customer class.

To stay in line with the Cost-of-Service Study several of the commercial customer classes will have minor adjustments to work towards the cost-of-service. The largest adjustment is well below inflation at about 2%  

There will be minor adjustments in the residential class to lower the per kWh and per gallon charges while increasing the fixed customer charge. These adjustments are designed to be revenue neutral (0%) to the average residential customer.

MSC recognizes that there are significant financial pressures on our customers from tax assessments, and inflation and is proud to be in a strong financial position which allows the Commission to not need to ask our customers for additional revenue overall.

In addition to a revenue neutral rate adjustment, MSC is excited to announce the creation of a discount for customers who enroll in electronic billing. Customers who opt to not receive a paper bill each month will receive a discount of $1.50 per month to offset the changes to the customer charges.

MSC is also rolling out a budget billing program starting in April to allow residential customers to have a predictable monthly payment in order to smooth out spikes in seasonal usage.  

Customers interested in enrolling in electronic billing only or to get more information about the budget billing program should call 302-323-2330 to speak with a customer service representative.

MSC continues to work with the Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation (DEMEC) to on opportunities to increase electricity generation in the State to help bring down costs for customers in the long term. In addition, DEMEC is advocating for customers at the State and federal levels to educate elected and appointed officials about sustainable energy policies.

Currently MSC’s residential electric rate is the second lowest in the state. The MSC’s residential rate is 25% less than the current cost of electricity for Delmarva Power’s customers outside the city.

MSC is sensitive to the needs of our customers.  We remain committed to keeping our rates low while providing electric and water systems with very low incidence of disruptions or outages.

If adopted, the adjustments would take effect for the April 2026 utility bills.

If you have any questions regarding the rate increase, please reach out to our customer service department at 302-323-2330.