Delaware political figures who back a costly anti-energy scheme appear to have no trouble telling residents to get lost, even as those same residents struggle with their utility bills.
That much became apparent during an April legislative hearing when State Sen. Stephanie Hansen, a Democrat representing the 10th district, cut off debate when another lawmaker attempted to describe how climate change regulations further exacerbate electricity costs for Delaware ratepayers.
Democrats Want Compliance, not Debate
By dropping the mask and displaying the pitfalls of one-party rule, Hansen may be overreaching. She has also unwittingly called attention to conflicts of interest lurking behind a pricey climate change initiative.
“This is my committee,” Hansen told State Sen. Gerald Hocker during the hearing when it came time to discuss the costs associated with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which includes Delaware and nine other New England and Mid-Atlantic states. Hocker, a Republican who represents the 20th district, is the lead sponsor of a bill that would pull Delaware out of RGGI for the purpose of lowering energy costs. He has offered up several compelling arguments that deserve a fair hearing. As Hocker notes in his bill, Delaware has already exceeded its carbon dioxide reduction goals after cutting emissions by 45 percent. That’s quite an achievement since RGGI set out to cut Delaware’s CO2 emissions by just 10 percent.
What then, he asks, is the rationale now for staying in RGGI? The Delaware Republican makes a strong point that states outside of RGGI have maintained lower energy prices while also lowering emissions.
With the General Assembly back in session in June, Hocker may get another bite at the apple. On the surface, his proposal seems like a clean hit that would only benefit Delaware energy consumers. Over on the House side, State Rep. Bryan Shupe, a Republican representing District 36, is sponsoring a companion bill, and he’s hardly alone. In fact, the minority party is nearly unanimous in its opposition to RGGI. But therein lies the problem. Democrats who have a personal stake in the climate change movement do not seem motivated to operate in the public interest.
As chair of the Environment, Energy, and Transportation Committee, Sen. Hansen has the authority to limit debate and prevent legislation from moving forward. She did exactly that during the April hearing. Sen. Hocker recalled how Hansen gave almost 90 minutes to RGGI supporters while only providing opponents with a few minutes to make their case.
Why? Hansen is not just the chair of the Delaware Senate energy committee — she just happens to sit on the board of a nonprofit called Energize Delaware that implements the spending of RGGI programs. That’s not where the conflicts of interest end. State Sen. Trey Paradee, a Democrat representing the 17th district, also serves on the Environment Committee as well as on the board of Energize Delaware.
Could this be why the opponents of RGGI keep running into headwinds? Katie Ladzinski, a conservative commentator known widely as “First State Katie,” put it very well in a Facebook post:
When the same network is shaping policy, managing the money, and controlling the hearings where that policy is debated, it stops feeling like an open process. Delaware families deserve transparency, accountability, and a real conversation about WHYYYY [why] their bills keep going up! Not a system that feels insulated from the people paying for it.
Delaware ratepayers should start asking questions now about what the climate change agreement does and how it relates to the imposition of new energy taxes — which the left euphemistically calls “carbon taxes.” (RELATED: Everyone Wants Affordable Energy. Nobody Wants to Cut the Ribbon.)
What Is RGGI and What Makes It Tick?
RGGI is a multistate compact regarding climate change, built around “cap and trade” regulations designed to limit carbon dioxide emissions. In participating states, government agents require electric utilities to purchase carbon allowances at quarterly auctions whenever the utilities surpass the “cap” on emissions that the compact establishes.
On the flip side, companies that meet or exceed emissions targets may sell any excess allowances to companies that have not done so. The idea behind RGGI is to provide energy companies with financial incentives to reduce emissions. Carbon taxes become part of the RGGI equation as utilities pass along the costs of purchasing carbon allowances to their ratepayers. So, the critical question ratepayers must now ask heading further into 2026 is — how much are those allowances? And how much more will they get taxed on their use of energy?
During the most recent RGGI auction held on June 3, 2026, the auction price was $35.00 per CO2 allowance. This represents a 40 percent increase from the nearly $25.00 price set during the March 11, 2026, auction and a more than 78 percent increase from the auction price set one year ago. The next RGGI auction will be held Sep. 9, 2026. Current trendlines suggest that ratepayers should hold onto their wallets.
In a press release, Hocker warned Delmarva Power customers that they will see anywhere from an 18 percent to 20 percent supply rate increase. This translates into about $14.64 more per month for the average household and about $175 per year. RGGI will add yet another layer of costs in an already challenging economic environment.
Dave Stevenson, former Director of the Caesar Rodney Institute’s Center for Energy & Environmental Policy in Delaware and now with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Michigan, had only had two minutes to critique RGGI during the April hearing. But he made the most of his time. Stevenson explained to lawmakers how RGGI has added hundreds of millions of dollars to Delaware electric bills over the last 17 years.
“What’s happening is RGGI is hurting electricity affordability, it’s not reducing emissions, and it really isn’t needed anymore,” Stevenson told lawmakers. During his testimony, Stevenson also said a RGGI Inc. consultant acknowledged RGGI is increasing electricity bills. “Over the last 17 years, RGGI has added $400 million dollars to Delaware electricity bills, with the latest year totaling $67 million,” he added.
Money on that scale buys influence. The dollars electricity customers surrender through RGGI do not simply vanish into the state treasury; much of the money gets doled back out as grants, and someone decides who receives it. By law, 65 percent of Delaware’s RGGI proceeds — nearly $240 million since 2009 — flow to a single nonprofit, Energize Delaware. Since two of the lawmakers who sit on the nonprofit’s board also sit on the board that governs RGGI’s future, it’s fair to ask about potential conflicts of interest.
Phantom Benefits
Hansen insists that RGGI provides Delaware residents with environmental and economic benefits. She went into some detail about her views in a Facebook post that coincided with the April hearing. “RGGI is a proven program that improves energy efficiency, cuts harmful emissions, and supports cleaner and more reliable energy,” Hansen said. “Walking away from RGGI does not just stall progress, but instead moves us backwards in our environmental efforts.”
She is entitled to that view. But Hansen is also among the few positioned to act on it by chairing the committee and helping steer the money the program collects. The officials and ordinary citizens who question RGGI hold no such advantage.
Delaware was once an economic dynamo that attracted corporations with tax incentives. But it now ranks 46th in GDP growth nationally. Pulling out of RGGI would begin the process of a long-overdue U-turn. But that process will be difficult to start under one-party rule.
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Kevin Mooney is a senior investigative researcher for Restoration News, specializing in energy policy, environmentalist groups, and dark money. He writes regularly for the American Spectator, Washington Examiner, Daily Caller, Daily Signal, and National Review. Kevin is the author of the new book, Climate Porn: How and Why Anti-Population Zealots Fabricate Science, while Targeting American Capitalism, Freedom, and Independence.
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