Data centers in Delaware: 4 projects mapped

Gov. Matt Meyer signed those bills in late August 2026. WHYY reported that the law bars data centers from passing the cost of powering and upgrading their facilities on to other ratepayers. It directs Delmarva Power to create a separate, higher rate for hyperscale data centers and requires them to cut power use at peak demand. A separate law requires data centers to generate their own power over a 10-year period from sources that meet the state's renewable portfolio standards, and another bars them from job-creation tax credits. "Data centers that do not pay their fair share do not belong in our communities," Meyer said. WHYY noted that a state report found data center demand could push average wholesale electricity prices up by more than 80%.

Counties have also acted. On March 10, 2026, New Castle County Council unanimously passed Councilmember David Carter's ordinance, the county's first zoning rules for data centers, after seven months of debate, Delaware Public Media reported. It requires a 1,000-foot buffer from residential zones, schools and day cares, which can shrink to 500 feet with a site-specific noise study, and it bans open-loop cooling. An amendment limited the rules to applications filed after enactment, which exempted Project Washington. Kent County Levy Court unanimously adopted its own rules in July 2026, with 300-foot residential buffers, a noise limit, and required letters from water and electric providers. The rules apply only to unincorporated areas, not to cities like Harrington, where a data center had been eyed at the former Burris Logistics site. Kent's attorney said the county is reviewing whether a full ban would be legally viable.

Two other New Castle County proposals are still unresolved. Near Newark, developer Shelbourne filed plans in 2025 to replace the White Clay Center buildings with a three-building, roughly 850,000-square-foot data center campus. Councilman Tim Sheldon said in June 2026 that he had brokered a handshake deal with the developer's attorney to pause it. Spotlight Delaware noted that the agreement is not binding, depends on the county approving an exploratory plan that would grandfather the site under the old rules, and leaves the developer free to build a data center later. A separate proposal near St. Georges, on land that includes the Frightland Halloween attraction, was still in preliminary stages in August 2026 and also sits inside the coastal zone.