Key takeaways
- 10 community-owned utilities: 9 municipal utilities and 1 electric cooperative reported bundled retail sales in Delaware in 2024.
- Together they served 195,740 of the state's 496,950 bundled retail customers (39%); 1 investor-owned utility served most of the rest.
- The largest public power utility is City of Dover, with 25,126 customers.
- The largest electric co-op is Delaware Electric Cooperative, with 118,644 customers.
Every public power utility and co-op in Delaware
Ranked by bundled retail customers in 2024, with retail sales in megawatt-hours and average price in cents per kilowatt-hour. Names are as EIA abbreviates them. Filter by type or search.
Showing all 10 utilities
| # | Utility | Type | Customers | Sales, MWh | Avg. price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Delaware Electric Cooperative | Cooperative | 118,644 | 1,606,853 | 14.16¢ |
| 2 | City of Dover | Municipal | 25,126 | 714,884 | 12.30¢ |
| 3 | City of Newark | Municipal | 13,439 | 422,658 | 14.59¢ |
| 4 | Town of Middletown | Municipal | 10,168 | 273,068 | 14.69¢ |
| 5 | City of Milford | Municipal | 8,740 | 238,637 | 13.62¢ |
| 6 | Town of Smyrna | Municipal | 6,478 | 111,466 | 15.15¢ |
| 7 | City of Seaford | Municipal | 4,383 | 110,254 | 15.11¢ |
| 8 | City of Lewes | Municipal | 4,017 | 88,862 | 14.64¢ |
| 9 | New Castle Municipal Serv Comm | Municipal | 2,924 | 75,088 | 13.94¢ |
| 10 | Town of Clayton | Municipal | 1,821 | 23,227 | 16.78¢ |
Public power vs. co-ops in Delaware
- Public power utilities — municipal utilities, public utility districts and state-owned utilities — are owned by the communities they serve and governed by a city council or elected board. They buy much like local governments: through public bids, board approvals and published budgets.
- Electric cooperatives are private, not-for-profit utilities owned by their members, who elect the board. Most buy power from a generation and transmission (G&T) co-op and make purchasing decisions through their own policies, often faster than public agencies.
Both publish their plans: watch board and council agendas, budgets, capital improvement plans and rate filings. Our utility funding tracker and rate case & IRP tracker show where the money is coming from.
Selling to Delaware utilities
- Start with the right person. Line, engineering, metering, IT and member-services managers usually define the need; the general manager or CEO and the board approve large purchases.
- Use the networks. State public power and cooperative associations, joint action agencies and G&T co-ops shape purchasing and share vendor experiences.
- Expect small teams. Many of the utilities on this list have only a handful of staff, so phone outreach and a clear reason to talk matter.
Read our guide to how public power, co-ops and water utilities buy, or see the largest public power utilities and largest electric co-ops nationally.
About this data
- Source. EIA's "2024 Utility Bundled Retail Sales – Total" (Table 10), from forms EIA-861 and EIA-861S. Average price is EIA's revenue divided by sales.
- Bundled customers only. The table counts customers who buy both energy and delivery from the utility, so it excludes distribution-only utilities and customers who buy energy from another supplier in retail-choice areas.
- Community-owned utilities only. This page lists municipal, public utility district, state-owned and cooperative utilities. Investor-owned and federal utilities are left out.
Sources
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2024 Utility Bundled Retail Sales – Total (Table 10): eia.gov