PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT SUMMARY The following summary contains basic information about this offering. It may not contain all of the information that is important to you. The “Description of the First Mortgage Bonds” section of this prospectus supplement and the “Description of Debt Securities—Description of First Mortgage Bonds” section of the accompanying prospectus contain more detailed information regarding the bonds. The following summary is qualified in its entirety by reference to the more detailed information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus supplement and in the accompanying prospectus, including the documents incorporated by reference herein or therein.
DELMARVA POWER & LIGHT COMPANY
We are a regulated public utility company engaged in the transmission, distribution and default supply of electricity in the State of Delaware and in Caroline, Cecil, Dorchester, Harford, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico and Worcester counties in Maryland. Our service territory covers approximately 5,000 square miles and, as of December 31, 2013, had a population of approximately 1.4 million. As of December 31, 2013, we delivered electricity to 506,000 customers, of which 305,000 were located in Delaware and 201,000 were located in Maryland. In 2013, we distributed a total of 12.5 million megawatt hours of electricity, of which 66% was distributed within our Delaware territory and 34% was distributed within Maryland. Approximately 41% of the total megawatt hours were delivered to residential customers and 59% were delivered to commercial and industrial customers.
Our electricity distribution facilities are regulated by the Delaware Public Service Commission, or the DPSC, and the Maryland Public Service Commission, or the MPSC. The rates we are paid for the delivery of electricity in Delaware and Maryland are established by the DPSC and the MPSC, respectively.
Our electricity transmission facilities, and the rates for which we are paid for the transmission of electricity over those facilities, are regulated by FERC. These transmission facilities are interconnected with the transmission facilities of contiguous utilities and are part of an interstate power transmission grid over which electricity is transmitted throughout the mid-Atlantic portion of the United States and parts of the Midwest. We are a member of the PJM Regional Transmission Organization, or PJM RTO, the regional transmission organization designated by FERC to coordinate the movement of wholesale electricity within its region.
We also supply electricity at regulated rates to retail customers in our service territories who do not elect to purchase electricity from a competitive supplier, which is referred to in this prospectus supplement as default supply. We purchase the electricity required to satisfy our default supply obligations from wholesale suppliers primarily under contracts entered into in accordance with competitive bid procedures approved and supervised by each of the DPSC and the MPSC. We are also obligated to provide a type of default supply, known as Hourly Priced Service, or HPS, for our largest customers in Delaware and our large customers in Maryland. We acquire power to supply our HPS customers in the next-day and other short-term PJM RTO markets.
We also supply and deliver natural gas to retail customers and provide transportation-only services to retail customers that purchase natural gas from another supplier and have the natural gas delivered through our distribution facilities. Our natural gas service territory consists of a major portion of New Castle County in Delaware. This service territory covers approximately 275 square miles and, as of December 31, 2013, had a population of approximately 500,000. As of December 31, 2013, we delivered natural gas to 126,000 customers. In 2013, we delivered 19,796,000 Mcf (thousand cubic feet) of natural gas to customers in our Delaware service territory, of which 40% were residential customers, 25% were commercial and industrial customers and 35% were customers receiving a transportation-only service and certain other customers. Intrastate transportation customers pay us distribution service rates approved by the DPSC. Rates for the interstate transportation and sale of wholesale natural gas are regulated by FERC.
We are an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of PHI. PHI is a publicly traded holding company that, through its regulated utility subsidiaries, including us, Potomac Electric Power Company and Atlantic City Electric Company, is engaged primarily in the transmission, distribution and default supply of electricity and, to a lesser extent, the delivery and supply of natural gas. All of the members of our Board of Directors are officers of PHI, and many of our officers are officers or employees of PHI or its affiliates.