The City of Newark, Delaware, home of the
main campus of the University of Delaware is located in the
northwest corner of the state. The city is comprised of about 5,935
gross acres or 9.3 square miles.
In 2001, the EIA reported that this
publicly owned municipal utility had 10,793 customers and sold a
total of 373,103,000 kWh of electricity. Although the municipal utility offers brief guidelines
for emergency stand-by generation in the “Electric Service
Handbook”, the utility has no standardized interconnection or
net energy metering policy and manages each project on a
case-by-case basis. However, the City has developed a draft agreement and application titled
“City of Newark Generator Interconnection Application-Short
Form” for use with customer sited generation 25 kW or less.
The draft application includes net energy metering.
Although the City of Newark’s electric department presently offers no
formal energy efficiency or renewable energy programs beyond the
U.S. DOE “Energy Saving Tips” brochure, the City has
promoted compact fluorescent lights at various community events
in the past. Additionally, the City, through the Conservation Advisory Commission (CAC) has
evaluated the feasibility of various clean energy programs.
Most recently, the CAC investigated the
feasibility of using non-fossil fuel options by the City and
proposed a “Green Energy” choice program for the electric
customers of the City of Newark. The “Green Energy” choice program allows customers
the option to purchase green energy from a blend of electrical
power derived from solar, wind and landfill gas.
The green energy blend would be offered to the customers
at a premium rate and supplied by the City of Newark.
The utility reported that they are currently seeking
green power suppliers in which to purchase clean power to offer
to their customers.
The CAC was created in November, 1977 by Ordinance 77-56, “to
advise in the development, management, and protection of its
natural resources with appropriate consideration of Newark's
human and economic resources”. In addition to energy conservation, the Commission
considers programs such as: street tree replacement; recycling;
beautification plans for volunteer groups; guidelines for
multiple use of open space and public areas; community gardens
and zoning code amendments to encouraging conservation.
The City of Newark is a Delaware Municipal Electric
Corporation member and part owner of the Warren
F. “Sam” Beasley Power Station, the 50 MW peak power
facility located in Smyrna, Delaware.
