Mara Gorman

Delaware doesn’t control PJM, but PJM’s costs land on Delaware ratepayers. Capacity prices in our region jumped roughly 9.3 times last auction cycle, with data centers responsible for 63% of that increase. That’s why I’ve pushed to make large energy users cover their own costs, instead of passing them on to residents.

This session I supported HB 233, requiring Delmarva to create a separate rate class and blocking large facilities from connecting until they sign binding cost-protection agreements (they’re also first curtailed in emergencies unless they bring their own power). I also supported HB 445, requiring facilities to produce or procure 100% of their own energy within 10 years, partly renewable. And finally, I voted for SB 326, which caps Delmarva’s non-mandatory infrastructure spending and tightens rate oversight.

I’m not opposed to a moratorium in principle, but a pause only helps if the time is used to build real guardrails. Delaware has already done much of that work through these bills and the PSC’s large-load tariff docket. I’d favor a narrow, targeted pause over a blanket one duplicating existing efforts, paired with strict cost allocation, mandatory disclosure, non-by-right siting, and real community engagement requirements.

Delaware’s flood risk isn’t only coastal. Sea levels here are rising at roughly twice the global average, and Lewes could see 135 high-tide flooding days a year by 2050. But New Castle County faces its own serious exposure — Wilmington’s Southbridge and Northeast neighborhoods flood regularly due to aging combined sewer systems and low elevation along the Christina and Brandywine, and inland communities like Newark see recurring stormwater flooding as heavier rainfall overwhelms drainage built for an earlier climate. These are often the same communities carrying other environmental burdens, and they deserve to be treated as a frontline priority alongside the beach towns.

I’d support modernizing stormwater and combined sewer infrastructure statewide, with funding prioritized toward historically underserved and flood-prone communities in Wilmington and Newark as well as coastal Sussex. I’d back updating floodplain maps to reflect future rainfall and runoff patterns, not just historical data, and continued investment in projects like the Southbridge Wetlands Park model, which includes green infrastructure paired with real community input to avoid displacement. I’d also support voluntary buyout and elevation programs for repetitive-loss properties statewide, and codifying the state’s flood-risk-avoidance standard into law so it can’t be undone by executive order alone.

Because lower perceived risk is one of the strongest predictors of rising use, I’d focus on evidence-based, age appropriate interventions rather than messaging alone.

I’d like to see Delaware revisit raising cigarette and vapor product taxes and closing the gap so that e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches are taxed like tobacco. HB 215 attempted this last session but died without a House floor vote. Price increases are one of the most effective, well-documented tools for reducing youth initiation because teens are more price-sensitive than adult users. With nearly 20% of Delaware high schoolers vaping, I’ll push to bring this back next session.

Beyond pricing, I’d prioritize what the research actually supports: evidence-based school curricula that build refusal and decision-making skills (not scare-tactic assemblies, which don’t work), family-based programs that strengthen parental monitoring and communication, and expanded screening in pediatric primary care to catch early use. I’d also support directing more opioid settlement funds toward youth-specific prevention programming, not just treatment.

Since perceived risk is falling for marijuana use, retailers should face strict age-verification and marketing restrictions keeping cannabis advertising away from youth, similar to alcohol and tobacco rules, paired with public health messaging grounded in accurate, non-exaggerated risk information.