Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1013 – Market power remediation
(a) On or after October 1, 1999, upon complaint or upon its own motion, for good cause shown, the Commission may conduct an investigation of the retail electric supply service market and whether the function of that market is being adversely affected by market power arising from the ownership or control of facilities and equipment used to provide electric supply service.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1013
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Commission: means the Delaware Public Service Commission. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Electric supply service: means the provision of electricity and related services to customers. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Public utility: includes every individual, partnership, association, corporation, joint stock company, agency or department of the State or any association of individuals engaged in the prosecution in common of a productive enterprise (commonly called a "cooperative"), their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, that now operates or hereafter may operate for public use within this State, (however, electric cooperatives shall not be permitted directly or through an affiliate to engage in the production, sale or distribution of propane gas or heating oil), any natural gas, electric (excluding electric suppliers as defined in § 1001 of this title), electric transmission by other than a public utility over which the Commission has no supervisory or regulatory jurisdiction pursuant to § 202(a) or (g) of this title, water, wastewater (which shall include sanitary sewer charge), telecommunications (excluding telephone services provided by cellular technology or by domestic public land mobile radio service) service, system, plant or equipment. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 102
- Retail competition: means the right of a customer to purchase electricity from an electric supplier. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
- State: means the State of Delaware; and when applied to different parts of the United States, it includes the District of Columbia and the several territories and possessions of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
(b) If, as a result of an investigation conducted under this section, the Commission has reason to believe that market power in the relevant market under the Commission’s jurisdiction is preventing retail electric customers in the State from obtaining the benefits of retail competition, the Commission may take remedial actions to mitigate the impact of such activities, including ordering divestiture. However, in the case of divestiture, the Commission may only order divestiture of generating assets of a public utility and only in an extreme situation and as a last resort measure.