At a recent meeting, Milford City Council learned more about the Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation (DEMEC), a not-for-profit joint action agency and wholesale electric utility that provides power supply, financial, and technical services to nine municipally owned distribution utilities in Delaware. It enables local communities to buy, manage, and generate electricity collectively to keep costs low and service reliable. The presentation was for newer council members who may not be aware of DEMEC’s role in utility operations.
“We really serve as an extension of city staff to really broadcast and educate the benefits of public power and the asset you are to your community and the benefits that you bring,” Heather Contant, Director of Government and Community Relations, said. “We are a political subdivision of the state, and we operate on behalf of the city and have been doing so for over 46 years. But, as many of you may know, we have been around for over 100 years.”
Contant explained that membership in DEMEC is not just about offering a good power supply, but also the savings it brings to consumers. She stated that DEMEC allows the city to purchase energy at wholesale prices since nine other municipalities are also purchasing power through them.
“People are trying to compare apples and oranges when it comes to your utility and other nearby utility types, but the business models are not the same and so it is helpful to sometimes see it in different ways so that you compare apples to apples and understand the differences,” Contant said. “Delaware is quite small and many who come from other states might understand a little bit more what it’s like to have multiple types of utilities under the same bucket, but most of the time here in Delaware, we are going to find there are multiple buckets.”
Contant pointed out that in Delaware there are 11 different electric utilities and nine are part of DEMEC who advocates for them. Contant stated that when she began with DEMEC nine years ago, 16 percent of the state’s electricity load was served by a public power utility and now, about 28 percent is served by a public power utility.
“The biggest difference that we see from when you look at investor-owned services like Exelon, as a not-for-profit, we are more similar to the Co-Op and we have a customer focused mindset,” Contant said. “You are not just operating several different utilities and many of your departments are influenced by the revenue that is brought in from your electric utility. Your Parks and Recreation programs, your local police department, roads and street lighting services, all of those benefits from the work you’re doing as a collective unit. That is a huge difference from the other business models.”
DEMEC assists the city by creating a reliable and sustainable power supply, making sure that power can meet demand and offers low emissions. Contant stated that 100 percent of Milford’s power comes through DEMEC and that 93 percent of that power is no- to low-emissions. In July, DEMEC will participate in a ribbon cutting in Middletown for the first floating solar project that will provide additional power in the state.
“We offer diverse training opportunities including our recently certified Department of Labor certified line worker apprentice training program that the City of Milford can use to train linemen,” Contant said.
Councilman Jason James asked Contant about their training yard in Smyrna. Contant pointed out that the training center began small in 2022 and they expanded it in 2023.
“One of the reasons I asked is because I remember when it was just getting started,” James said. “One of the main things that was important was that municipalities were having to pay for training, go to other entities, but now they can get that training at DEMEC at no cost.”
Contant confirmed that was true, that as members of DEMEC, training for certification was free. She estimated that saved municipalities 66 percent in training costs. The full presentation can be found online.
