Seaford City Council decides to keep electric rates the same

The Seaford City Council held the first meeting of 2026 and opened with Chris Simms, who presented three options to revise the fee and rate schedule of electric rates. Simms brought a report before council with three options, all benefitting the city residents. Simms said extra monies are due to residents because the Indian River Power Plant Project was completed a year sooner and DEMEC provided a one-time lump sum credit to each member, which includes Seaford. This amount was $282,692.63 which then resulted in an over-collection of power supply costs of $282,000 for a total of $540,000.

Simms reported projected increases of 4.8 percent through 2027 which is based on the power supply forecast. Simms told council, if the customers receive a refund for the over collection of power supply costs, they could see a large increase in 2027 which may create a “whipsaw” situation that is not ideal. 

Another option would be to refund the credit from DEMEC and use the other monies to balance out the increase needed for 2027. However, the citizens would still see an increase next year. 

A third option, which was the one chosen by council, the customer rates will not change and keep the current PCAC in place for the next two years which extends the current policy to stabilize rates over a three and half year period. Simms reported that this will also lower the increase in the rates needed for the 2028 PCAC. 

Councilman Mike Bradley said he believes most families favor consistency in the household budgets. “If we were to have a decrease now just to have an increase next year, I think our residents are going to feel like they are being jerked around a little bit.” Bradley noted the increase to Delmarva customers and reports indicate a $6.50 to $9 increase to those customers.

Simms noted the presentation is for the actual physical production from the power plants. Delaware is part of the PJM regional transmission organization who buys power from hundreds of sources that could be a 1,000 miles away. Delaware cannot produce its own energy and must buy that energy from somewhere so DEMEC represents several municipalities, like Seaford, and pool all the needs together and buy in bulk to procure the power supply. The city is not an investor owned utility like Delmarva Power. The entire report is available on the agenda page of the Seaford website.

Sonny Patel of Keystone Star Management, property owner of the Seaford Inn located at 24058 Sussex Highway, came before council to present a sale of the property and request a stay on the order of demolition. The settlement is scheduled for Jan. 26. The new owner is reported to have engineering plans for the outside and inside renovation of the building. The purchaser of the property was present and confirmed the purchase and stated they have estimates that include fire protection and engineering. The new owner does not have a franchise agreement and said he cannot obtain one until the organization makes settlement.

Members of council vigorously questioned the support of a delay on demolition, with most concerned if the work does not get done, the building remains an eye-sore of the community. Both Dan Henderson and Stephanie Grassett, although in agreement of the condition of the building, noted that the new owner is not the person that allowed the building to fall into such disrepair. Henderson also pointed out that the demolition is at the cost of the city until the monies are returned which the timeline is unpredictable. Mayor Matt MacCoy said he does not support a continuation because he receives the most complaints about the building. The council members all agreed that the new owner be permitted until March 24 to return to council with a franchise agreement and signed engineering plans for the repairs of the building. If he does not have the required documents, demolition will go forward.

The council approved a bid of $28,727 to George & Lynch for the repair of a manhole. The department inspections discovered that the concrete of the precast sections are failing. The top ring and slab top will be replaced with a structural coating.

Director of Economic Development Trisha Newcomer presented the sale of a parcel of land in the Western Sussex Business Campus. The 20.625 acres was sold to Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation (DEMEC). The land is required to be used for economic development and job creation. 

“It is a win-win for the city and the region, and represents a major step forward in our economic development strategy,” said Newcomer. 

DMAC sent a prepared statement to the meeting, “DMAC advocates for just and reasonable rates while balancing electric reliability for its members at a time of regulatory uncertainty and increasing costs. The board selected Seaford as a location for its expanded presence in Delaware especially on the Lower Peninsula in Sussex County, an office is expected to be built in addition to other uses.” 

Additionally, Newcomer presented for approval a budget reallocation expenditure for storage server upgrade. The council approved the $38,362 expenditure after the current support and updates abruptly ended.

Director of Public Works Berley Mears presented the notice of termination received from Sussex County of the handling of Biosolids. The county offered the sale of sludge roll off containers in the amount of $5,000 each with tarp system. A new contract with Clean Delaware for the sludge and disposal was entered into that replaces the county.

Director of Electric Greg Brooke presented two quotes for an electric switch gear for the Sunrise Motel circuit reconfiguration project and recommended Anixter with the lowest bid of $70,418.81. The Sunrise Motel has been annexed in to the city and in order to hook up electric this switch box is required.

The city of Seaford will hold municipal elections on Saturday, April 18 in the City Council chambers. There is one mayoral seat for a two-year term and two council member seats for three year terms. Vice-Mayor Dan Henderson, Councilman Mike Bradley, and Mayor Matt MacCoy have filed for reelection. All candidates have until Friday, Feb. 27 to file at City Hall located at 414 High Street in Seaford.