Delmarva’s legal power forces 2 villages to vacate laws banning new electricity towers

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Efforts by two tiny bucolic villages in northern Delaware to thwart Delmarva Power’s plan to replace high-voltage transmission lines have crumbled under a lawsuit filed by the state’s dominant electricity provider.

Ardentown and Ardencroft, whose roughly 500 residents live in a self-proclaimed
“forest ecosystem” of mature woodlands and open spaces known as “greens,” object to the looming replacement of seven tall metal towers, one more than 100 feet high, that were built a century ago on what was then farmland.

The existing towers traverse about a half-mile of mostly hilly terrain through the two towns, with some located between the backyard of homes in a Delmarva right-of-way. Their replacement with galvanized steel structures designed to withstand hurricane-force winds is part of Delmarva’s 4.5-mile upgrade that’s aimed at improving reliability service for 13,000 customers while reducing the frequency and duration of outages.

But the village’s governing assemblies contend the project will tarnish the lush enclave by clear-cutting trees and disrupting lead-contaminated soil beneath the towers. They want the project rerouted about a quarter-mile away, near railroad tracks where Delmarva already has some towers. WHYY News detailed the controversy in January.

In a bid to stymie Delmarva, Ardencroft banned new transmission lines and towers last year, and approved an annual impact fee for existing transmission infrastructure. In March, the town sent Delmarva a $12,833.17 impact fee bill for 2025.

Earlier this year, Ardentown formally entered the fray, prohibiting transmission towers and poles from exceeding 100 feet in height, with fines of $1,000 per day for violations. Ardentown also banned new transmission lines or tower infrastructure of 60 kilovolts or more within 100 feet of any home, with fines of $1,500 per day for violations.

Delmarva’s existing lines and towers, both Ardentown ordinances said, have “caused almost 100 years of unnecessary harm and avoidable risk to our village.”

In response to the villages’ laws and fees, Delmarva fired back on Oct. 31 against Ardentown — but not Ardencroft — in Delaware’s Chancery Court, which is recognized internationally for its ability to resolve business and corporate disputes.

Delmarva’s suit asked the court to invalidate Ardentown’s new laws and order the town to pay its legal bills. The 27-page filing accused the town of exceeding its legislative authority by violating the village’s 1926 contract with predecessor American Power Company that allows the lines, the Delaware Public Service Commission’s authority to regulate utilities and Delmarva’s constitutional property rights.

“The 1926 Ardentown Easement does not limit the height of the towers/poles located in the Ardentown Easement Area, nor does it limit the voltage carried by the transmission lines,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit added that the easement “gives Delmarva Power, among other things, the right to ‘repair and renew said poles, towers, structures, fixtures, and wires.’”

None of the current towers are higher than 100 feet, according to the lawsuit, but all of the proposed ones are, and the law was only enacted after Delmarva shared details of its “long-planned improvements” with town leaders.

“At their core, the ordinances are nothing more than a ‘not in my backyard’ attempt to force Delmarva Power to re-route its existing transmission line away from Ardentown and through other communities,” the lawsuit said.

Noting that the project’s completion deadline is the end of 2026, the lawsuit said that failing to finish by then “risks real-time operational reliability problems, including outages to a large number of customers or higher energy costs to customers.”

‘Trying to go up against Delmarva is quite, quite difficult’

Delmarva did not sue Ardencroft, which rescinded its ordinance in October to avoid litigation.

Minutes for that Ardenroft Assembly meeting noted the “general disappointment and frustration that everyone feels about this litigious outcome.”

And this month, 10 days after the lawsuit was filed, Ardentown also rescinded its two laws.

Ardentown trustee Lisa Wilson Riblett described the fight as a valiant but uphill battle for the “tree huggers” of the town, whose municipal budget is $22,500 a year, against the powerful subsidiary of Exelon Corp., a Fortune 500 conglomerate that had $23 billion in revenue and $2.46 billion in net income in 2024.

“The town did decide to rescind those ordinances because of just the financial burden of them,” Wilson Riblett said. “Unfortunately that doesn’t mean the problems are solved.”

Wilson Riblett said the utility still hasn’t provided detailed plans, including any tree replacement that’s needed.

She also pointed out that Delmarva must remediate the lead contamination under an agreement with state environmental officials and restrict the scope of their work to the width of the easement, which is as narrow as 8 feet in some stretches of the half-mile swatch through Ardentown and Ardencroft.

“Trying to go up against Delmarva when you’re a little tiny village is quite, quite difficult,” Wilson Riblett said. “But the people in the town are very proactive and they’re still working toward trying to make this the best situation that we can.”

Melissa Parsonson, Ardentown’s chair and effectively its unpaid mayor, said residents had little choice but to capitulate and rescind the laws. Otherwise, the town would put the approximately 270 residents in jeopardy of having to pay any damages, including the cost of litigation.

“There’s the risk of going to court and you don’t know how a judge is going to decide,” Parsonson said. “It’s very frustrating.”

Delmarva officials would not agree to be interviewed about the project, but said in a written statement from spokesman Matthew Ford that the utility is anticipating notification from Ardentown that the laws are no longer on the books.

“We are continuing to work closely with customers and communities to minimize impacts and keep them informed throughout this project,” Ford’s statement said. “We are pleased that the village has since withdrawn the ordinances, and we appreciate their decision, which allows us to move forward collaboratively in serving our customers and communities.”

Parsonson countered that Delmarva has been less than forthcoming, but said she hopes they will be more candid going forward.

“They haven’t told us anything,” she said. “They could bring in trucks tomorrow and we wouldn’t be none the wiser, because they just have not been open with us.”