Delaware Delmarva customers that participate in solar power can see 10-20% off of their power bills. NBC10’s Tim Furlong looks into these projects.
One farming family in Dover, Delaware, is converting one-third of its fields to generate solar energy. 
Nautilus Solar Energy — a community solar company — says 32 acres have been converted into a solar farm, using nearly 12,000 panels to generate enough electricity to power about 774 homes in Dover.
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Delmarva Power customers in Delaware can subscribe to the community solar project without installing solar panels. Many are expected to receive 10% to 20% savings on their electric bills. 
“We are in a moment where we need a lot of generation, and that may need to come from all different types of generation,” said Jameson Tweedie, Delaware’s public advocate. 
Tweedie has been fighting efforts to raise rates for Delmarva Power customers. He says that as large data centers are proposed across the region, community solar projects can add much-needed energy to the electric grid. 
“Now, it’s not at the scale of a nuclear plant or a huge combustion facility, but every megawatt that can come online counts. There are a lot of these projects in the pipeline, and if we can keep getting them online, they will add up to a meaningful amount of power,” Tweedie said. 
Some residents oppose using farmland for solar panels, saying they would rather see the land developed for commercial uses, such as parking lots and retail stores. 
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Nautilus says it can produce clean energy relatively quickly while causing little disruption to the land beneath the panels. The company also says the projects can lower electric bills and create jobs. 
“Not only in the construction of the project, because I think it’s easy to focus on that, but there are a lot of surveys and studies that need to be done,” said Eric Paul, senior vice president of Nautilus Solar. “There are local operations and maintenance jobs, landscaping that is required — something as simple as mowing the grass. It does create opportunity,”

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