New Castle County

Moratoriums and bans

1. March 18, 2026 New Castle County: Zoning ordinance. Ordinance 25-101, first filed by Councilman David Carter on Aug. 5, 2025, was adopted 12-0 on March 10, 2026 and signed as Substitute 3 by County Executive Marcus Henry on March 18, 2026. It treats data centers as a distinct use and limits them to industry and heavy-industry zones. Facilities must sit at least 1,000 ft from the nearest home, or as close as 500 ft with a noise study. Open-loop cooling is banned unless reclaimed water is used, backup generators must be energy-efficient, and developers must set aside money to decommission a closed facility. An amendment by Councilman Tim Sheldon made the rules effective on signing, so projects already in the pipeline, including Project Washington, are not covered. An amendment by Councilman John Cartier to make the rules effective as of Aug. 5, 2025 was withdrawn without a vote. (WHYY, Sept. 4, 2025; Spotlight Delaware, Nov. 3, 2025; Spotlight Delaware, Nov. 5, 2025; Spotlight Delaware, March 9, 2026; WDEL, March 10, 2026; Delaware LIVE News, March 11, 2026; WHYY, March 11, 2026; New Castle County (Office of the County Executive), March 18, 2026; Spotlight Delaware, March 19, 2026)

Updates, newest first

1. Oct. 27, 2026 DCANet Wilmington colocation · DCANet's colocation page lists its data center at 1016 Delaware Avenue, Wilmington, with 24x7 access and options from a single server to enclosures and cages. (DCANet, undated)
2. Aug. 28, 2026 St. Georges Business Park & Lighthouse Farms (possible data center) · Spotlight Delaware said the St. Georges data center is in preliminary stages. Whether it can proceed under the Coastal Zone Act likely depends on its power source. (Spotlight Delaware, Aug. 28, 2026; States Newsroom / News From The States (Spotlight Delaware), Aug. 28, 2026)
3. July 2, 2026 White Clay Center data center (Newark) · Councilman Tim Sheldon said he had brokered an informal pause with the developer's attorney, reflected in a June 10 email. Spotlight Delaware noted that because the zoning already allows data centers, the county likely could not deny the plan. Sheldon said he would look for another company to buy or lease the land. (Spotlight Delaware, July 2, 2026)
4. June 11, 2026 St. Georges Business Park & Lighthouse Farms (possible data center) · Delmarva Power records obtained through the Public Advocate list a 300 MW New Castle County data center request awaiting cluster study. Technical.ly offered this site as a possible match but did not confirm it. (Technical.ly, June 11, 2026)
5. March 18, 2026 New Castle County: Zoning ordinance · Ordinance 25-101, first filed by Councilman David Carter on Aug. 5, 2025, was adopted 12-0 on March 10, 2026 and signed as Substitute 3 by County Executive Marcus Henry on March 18, 2026. It treats data centers as a distinct use and limits them to industry and heavy-industry zones. Facilities must sit at least 1,000 ft from the nearest home, or as close as 500 ft with a noise study. Open-loop cooling is banned unless reclaimed water is used, backup generators must be energy-efficient, and developers must set aside money to decommission a closed facility. An amendment by Councilman Tim Sheldon made the rules effective on signing, so projects already in the pipeline, including Project Washington, are not covered. An amendment by Councilman John Cartier to make the rules effective as of Aug. 5, 2025 was withdrawn without a vote. (WHYY, Sept. 4, 2025; Spotlight Delaware, Nov. 3, 2025; Spotlight Delaware, Nov. 5, 2025; Spotlight Delaware, March 9, 2026; WDEL, March 10, 2026; Delaware LIVE News, March 11, 2026; WHYY, March 11, 2026; New Castle County (Office of the County Executive), March 18, 2026; Spotlight Delaware, March 19, 2026)
6. March 11, 2026 White Clay Center data center (Newark) · WHYY reported that the Newark-area application is subject to neither the new county data center rules nor the Coastal Zone Act. Spotlight Delaware noted that the site's existing zoning already allows data centers. (WHYY, March 11, 2026; Spotlight Delaware, March 19, 2026)
7. March 9, 2026 St. Georges Business Park & Lighthouse Farms (possible data center) · Spotlight Delaware reported that a last-minute amendment from Councilwoman Janet Kilpatrick could have spared a project near the St. Georges Bridge, in the pipeline since 2024, from the new data center rules. She withdrew it before a vote, and the ordinance as passed does not reach projects already in the pipeline. (Spotlight Delaware, March 9, 2026; Delaware LIVE News, March 11, 2026)
8. Nov. 2025 St. Georges Business Park & Lighthouse Farms (possible data center) · Verdantas filed revised plans for 3.2 million sq ft. The filing noted that the zoning permits data centers and that data centers need less parking. County planners said the intended use had not been clarified. (Spotlight Delaware, Dec. 16, 2025)
9. Nov. 2025 White Clay Center data center (Newark) · Shelbourne filed exploratory plans with New Castle County to demolish seven 1980s office and industrial buildings and build three light-industrial buildings, with the complex totaling about 847,000 sq ft. Spotlight Delaware dated the Verdantas filing to early December and gave 676,000 sq ft. (Newark Post, Dec. 18, 2025; Spotlight Delaware, Dec. 16, 2025)
10. April 24, 2024 DāSTOR New Castle data center · DāSTOR said it acquired the purpose-built data center at 3 Boulden Circle, New Castle, citing 2N+1 UPS and N+1 cooling redundancy and its I-95 corridor location. (DāSTOR (Business Wire), April 24, 2024)
11. 2024 St. Georges Business Park & Lighthouse Farms (possible data center) · Verdantas filed original plans with New Castle County for owner Parkway Gravel Inc.: three distribution centers totaling 2.5 million sq ft plus 150 homes, on farmland along U.S. 13 just south of the C&D Canal. (Spotlight Delaware, Dec. 16, 2025)

Statewide

No data center sales-tax exemption exists because Delaware levies no state or local sales tax at all; businesses instead pay a gross receipts tax on sellers. (Delaware Division of Revenue, undated) Delaware PSC Docket 25-0826 (Order No. 10816, Sept. 3, 2025), opened on a joint petition of PSC Staff and the Public Advocate after a 1.2 GW data center was proposed in Delmarva's territory, directs Delmarva Power to file a large-load tariff for customers with monthly peak demand of 25 MW or more and requires that tariff to be in place before any new load of that size is interconnected. (Delaware Public Service Commission, Sept. 3, 2025; State of Delaware (Division of the Public Advocate / PSC), Oct. 14, 2025) Status of Docket 25-0826: written public comment on Delmarva's proposed tariff was extended to April 6, 2026, and Delmarva also suggested lifting the threshold to 50 MW; PSC Staff, DNREC and the Public Advocate then filed joint comments (posted April 9, 2026) that flagged risks to customers and asked for a more deliberate process; no final tariff decision was found as of Oct. 27, 2026. (Technical.ly, March 3, 2026; Delaware Public Service Commission, April 9, 2026) HS 1 for HB 233 (Rep. Burns; Sen. Hansen) requires PSC-regulated utilities to put large energy-use facilities in their own rate class, requires PSC approval of their electric service agreements before interconnection, sets minimum terms for transmission security agreements, and puts these facilities first in line for cutoff in grid emergencies unless they build new in-state generation; signed Aug. 26, 2026, 85 Del. Laws c. 440. (Delaware General Assembly, Aug. 26, 2026; Delaware General Assembly, May 21, 2026; Office of the Governor, State of Delaware, Aug. 26, 2026) HB 445 (Rep. Heffernan; Sen. Hansen) requires large energy-use facilities to give the PSC a ramp-up plan under which, by their 10th year of operation, they produce or secure all of the power they use, with a renewable component (the bill's original synopsis describes in-state production); signed Aug. 26, 2026, 85 Del. Laws c. 442. (Delaware General Assembly, Aug. 26, 2026; Office of the Governor, State of Delaware, Aug. 26, 2026) HB 310 (Rep. Heffernan) makes large energy-use facilities ineligible for Delaware's job-creation business tax credits and license fee reductions; signed Aug. 26, 2026, 85 Del. Laws c. 441. (Delaware General Assembly, Aug. 26, 2026; Office of the Governor, State of Delaware, Aug. 26, 2026) SB 326 adds limits and closer oversight on non-mandatory capital spending that utilities such as Delmarva can pass on to residential customers; signed Aug. 26, 2026 along with the data center bills. (Office of the Governor, State of Delaware, Aug. 26, 2026; Spotlight Delaware, July 1, 2026) SB 205 (Sen. Hansen; Rep. Burns) would require a PSC Certificate to Operate before a facility starts, or expands to, using 30 MW or more; its status shows it out of committee March 11, 2026, and it was not enacted separately; Spotlight Delaware reported that the HB 233 substitute combined the original HB 233 with SB 205. (Delaware General Assembly, March 11, 2026; Delaware Public Media, Sept. 29, 2025; Spotlight Delaware, June 8, 2026) SB 353 (Sen. Buckson; Rep. M. Smith) would have placed a statewide moratorium through Jan. 31, 2027 on applications and permits for large-scale data center development; a June 30, 2026 motion to suspend the rules so the Senate could take it up drew 6 yes and 15 no votes, and the bill page shows no further action. (Delaware General Assembly, June 30, 2026; Spotlight Delaware, July 1, 2026) Coastal Zone Act: in February 2026 DNREC found Starwood's 1.2 GW Project Washington near Delaware City to be a use the 1971 Coastal Zone Act does not allow, pointing to 516 backup generators and more than 2.5 million gallons of stored diesel. (Delaware Public Media, Feb. 4, 2026) Gov. Matt Meyer and Public Advocate Jameson Tweedie asked the PSC in 2025 to make data centers over 25 MW pay their share of grid connection costs; no executive order on data centers was found. Meyer signed HB 233, HB 310, HB 445 and SB 326 on Aug. 26, 2026. (State of Delaware (Division of the Public Advocate / PSC), Oct. 14, 2025; Office of the Governor, State of Delaware, Aug. 26, 2026) Delaware data centers →