Luann D'Agostino
DemocraticQ2 Delaware’s electricity is delivered through PJM interconnection, the regional grid operator for the mid-atlantic. Across the PJM region, electricity demand is rising in part due to large-scale data center development. What evidence-based policies, if any, would you support addressing the effects of AI-driven data center growth on electricity costs and grid reliability for Delaware’s residents?
PJM’s capacity market makes this concrete: prices have jumped roughly 11-fold in two years, clearing at the cap of $329.17/MW-day for 2026/27, with data centers driving nearly 40–45% of recent capacity costs region-wide. PJM has also missed its own reliability target two years running. Delaware households shouldn’t pay more for a grid that’s becoming less dependable.
I know this industry firsthand — my father spent 35 years as an electrical engineer with PECO, and I spent 15 years supporting data centers as an engineer with HP (Hewlett-Packard). Those were classic facilities that employed real people, not today’s hyperscale AI data centers, which draw enormous power and resources with a fraction of the local jobs.
I supported this year’s law requiring data centers to supply their own power, meet renewable requirements, and pay separate rates so costs aren’t shifted to ratepayers. I’ll push further: mandatory grid-impact and reliability review before large loads interconnect, and Delaware pressing PJM for reforms that protect both ratepayers and reliability.
Q3 Federal agencies including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) project that Delaware’s coastal communities face increasing risk of tidal flooding in the coming decades. What evidence-based policies, if any, would you support to help these communities respond to increased coastal flooding risk?
Delaware is the lowest-lying state in the country, and I’ve seen what that means firsthand. In 2015, my family owned a home in Dagsboro when Hurricane Joaquin’s tidal surge flooded roads across Sussex County so badly we couldn’t leave our community for days. Our home was spared, but many of our neighbors’ weren’t. That’s not a projection to me — I lived it.
The data backs up what I saw: tidal flooding has increased 260% since 2000 in parts of Delaware, and over 9,500 properties are already at risk. I’d support fully and consistently funding Delaware’s Open Space Program, which curbs development in vulnerable areas and lets coastal ecosystems migrate inland. I’ll also push to finish updating coastal construction regulations to reflect current flood risk, and expand tools like DNREC’s I-ADAPT so local governments actually have the resources to plan, not just the mandate.
Q9 Delaware funds youth substance-use prevention programs through the Division of Public Health and the state budget. According to the 2024 Delaware School Survey, 26% of Delaware 11th graders perceive great risk in regular marijuana use, down from 50% in 1999. What evidence-based policies, if any, would you support to address substance use among young people in Delaware and ensure drug usage decline?
That drop in perceived risk — from 50% to 26% — tracks almost exactly with Delaware’s move to decriminalize in 2015 and legalize recreational marijuana in 2023. Legalization for adults was the right call, but we can’t pretend normalization doesn’t reach kids too, and the evidence says prevention has to evolve with it, not just keep repeating old messaging.
I’d support sustained, full funding for DSAMH’s evidence-based prevention framework, strict limits on cannabis marketing and packaging that could appeal to minors, and continued retail compliance checks like those already used for tobacco and vape sales to anyone under 21. And since youth substance use and mental health are deeply linked I’d tie prevention funding directly to expanding school-based mental health support, not just standalone drug education.