Delmarva SOS RFPs versus a PSC-certified supplier or broker
Electric choice in Delaware unbundled the supply portion of the bill in 1999. The Public Service Commission’s customer-choice page explains that you may contract with a third-party electric supplier for that portion, and that if you do not, the utility procures Standard Offer Service while distribution stays with the utility. Delmarva Power is the investor-owned path for Wilmington, Newark, and much of New Castle County.
Delmarva does not invent SOS in a back room. It runs Commission-approved wholesale RFPs. The 2025 Liberty technical consultant report the PSC posted describes those solicitations by customer grouping—residential and small commercial and industrial, medium general service, and larger general-service classes—so a coin laundry should know which SOS bucket the account sits in before it treats “the SOS rate” as one number.
A certified electric supplier sells commodity. A certified broker arranges a sale without necessarily being the title-holding supplier. Both appear on Commission lists after a DelaFile application. The PSC is explicit that it does not have jurisdiction over third-party supplier rates and charges. Certification is permission to offer, not a Commission-set energy price.
Customers who enroll still receive a Delmarva bill because Delmarva delivers the kilowatt-hours. The supply portion is calculated separately so you can see what is going to the third-party supplier. Questions about the supplier contract go to the supplier; questions about the wires go to Delmarva.
The PSC notes on its choice page that, on an annual basis, supply charges make up approximately 65 percent of a typical Delmarva Power electric bill, with the mix varying month to month. That is the Commission’s published composition statement, not a savings claim and not a reason to ignore distribution demand or customer charges when you score an offer.
Dryer therms after the small-commercial gas pilot ended
Chesapeake Utilities and Delmarva Power remain the Commission-regulated gas companies. They deliver dryer fuel and they answer leak calls. A typical coin-laundry gas meter does not sit in a living statewide retail-gas shopper the way the electric SOS path does.
Beginning in May 1999 the Commission ran a natural-gas choice pilot for a limited number of residential and general (small commercial) customers. The PSC’s natural-gas regulation page records that the program ended by settlement on October 31, 2001 after suppliers withdrew, and that later working-group meetings produced no pending proposal from either gas company to restart small-customer choice.
Large-volume transportation service is a different tariff family from that expired pilot. If a store is truly large enough to be discussed as transport, that conversation happens on the LDC’s commercial tariff—not on the electric Active Supplier list. Most washer-and-dryer storefronts should assume bundled LDC gas commodity until the bill’s rate schedule says otherwise.
Keep electric SOS shopping and gas-bill review in separate folders. An electric supplier enrollment does not move a Chesapeake or Delmarva gas emergency to that supplier. Staff should still call the LDC when they smell gas in the dryer room.
Wilmington and Newark Delmarva meters versus the Cooperative
Wilmington commercial corridors and Newark storefronts near the University of Delaware are usually Delmarva Power electric. That is the territory the PSC Active Electric Supplier list is built around: companies certified by the Commission, registered with Delmarva, and meeting Order 8947’s tests for serving residential or small-commercial customers.
Delaware Electric Cooperative serves large parts of Kent and Sussex Counties and some inland pockets. DEC tells members they have the option to choose a supplier, that they may remain on board-approved Standard Offer Service, and that DEC will still deliver electricity no matter who supplies commodity. DEC also tells members that a third-party supplier must be PSC-certified and registered with the Cooperative.
Registration with DEC is a second gate. A name on the PSC certified list is not automatic proof that the company will enroll a Cooperative meter. Treat DEC as choice-eligible with a thinner, separately verified pool—not as “the same Active list as Wilmington.”
Both Delmarva and DEC sit inside PJM. Shared RTO membership does not make SOS products, delivery tariffs, or supplier depth identical. A New Castle County Delmarva quote should not be pasted onto a Sussex County Cooperative account.
Mailing city is a weak proxy. Newark and Wilmington are Delmarva-heavy, but franchise boundaries and Cooperative pockets still require a bill check. Read the company name before you download the Active list or call a certified broker.
Isolating SOS supply from Delmarva distribution on the statement
The PSC’s choice page is the reading guide: Delmarva remains responsible for delivery, shown as the distribution charge, and the supply portion is calculated separately when a third-party supplier is on the account. Start there before you accept a blended “all-in” pitch.
Identify the SOS class that matches the account—small commercial, medium general service, or a larger grouping described in the Liberty SOS report—because the wholesale RFP that set your default is class-specific. Comparing a small-commercial SOS default to a supplier bid built for a different class is a category error.
Certified-versus-active matters on the invoice side too. The certified list is every company allowed to offer. The Active list is the shorter set the Commission highlights for residential and small-commercial customers who want a company that is registered with Delmarva and ready to take accounts. A laundry can still talk to other certified counterparties, but it should know which list it is using.
Outage restoration stays with Delmarva on Delmarva meters and with DEC on Cooperative meters. The PSC tells customers that no supplier represents the State, the Commission, or Delmarva Power. Night staff should not be told to call a supplier when the storefront goes dark.
New Castle washers and University-area shoulder occupancy
Wilmington neighborhood stores and Newark student-adjacent stores share a Delmarva SOS rulebook and do not share a load story. University move-in and break weeks change how long washers and extract run; they do not change which Liberty SOS class the meter sits in. Use your own interval or monthly history. This page will not invent a store-count or a kWh average.
Dryer heat on bundled LDC gas should be modeled on the gas bill, not folded into an electric supplier comparison. If the store later electrifies dryers, revisit the SOS class because added demand can move a small-commercial account toward a medium general-service grouping in the RFP design.
PJM winter and summer conditions influence the wholesale SOS RFPs Delmarva runs. That is a reason to capture the SOS effective period on every quote. It is not a reason to publish a savings percentage against last year’s SOS.
Coastal humidity and inland Cooperative territory change HVAC hours, not the legal identity of the delivery utility. Keep Delmarva outage contacts on New Castle stores and DEC outage contacts on Cooperative stores, regardless of which certified supplier prints the commodity line.
Certified-versus-active lists and Cooperative look-alikes
The first trap is treating every name on the certified list as an Active Delmarva counterparty. The PSC created the Active designation so residential and small-commercial customers could see who is registered with Delmarva and willing to take more accounts. A certified broker with no Delmarva registration is the wrong first call for a Wilmington SGS-class laundry.
The second trap is assuming a Cooperative meter can use that Active list without a DEC registration check. DEC’s own member materials say suppliers must be licensed by the Commission and registered with the Cooperative, and they instruct members to verify that registration before signing.
The third trap is shopping small-commercial gas as if the 1999 pilot were still open. The Commission’s gas page is the stop sign: the pilot ended in 2001. Do not import a Pennsylvania-style gas shopper story onto a Chesapeake or Delmarva gas dryer meter.
The fourth trap is using the Liberty SOS report as if it replaced your account’s current Price to Compare. The report explains how SOS was procured by class. Your Delmarva or DEC customer materials show the default you would actually leave. Use both: structure from the report, dollars from the current utility posting—without inventing a unit energy price in this guide.
Pre-RFP steps before you leave Delmarva or DEC Standard Offer Service
Read the delivery company on the bill. If it is Delmarva Power, open https://depsc.delaware.gov/customer-electric-choice/ and decide whether you are calling from the Active list, the broader certified list, or a certified broker. If it is Delaware Electric Cooperative, add the Cooperative’s registration check as a required step.
Identify the SOS class using the bill and, for Delmarva, the RFP class families in the 2025 Liberty report. Save the utility’s current SOS or Price-to-Compare materials for that class. Split twelve months of invoices into supply versus distribution so a supplier pitch cannot swallow Delmarva or DEC delivery charges.
Ask every bidder for its Commission certificate status and, on Delmarva, whether it is Active under Order 8947. The PSC publishes questions to ask potential suppliers and reminds you that no supplier represents the Commission or Delmarva. Read term, introductory-rate expiration, and variable-price language before you sign.
File Delmarva or DEC outage numbers separately from supplier billing contacts. After enrollment, check the first two Delmarva invoices to confirm distribution stayed on the utility and supply shows the third-party supplier. Re-open the SOS class file if you add demand-heavy equipment that could move the account in the next RFP grouping.
