A proposed 2.6-percent electric rate increase for customers of Delmarva Power drew sharp opposition from three members of the 36th legislative district and another citizen, who all said it would be another blow to people struggling to survive in the recession. Present at the hearing were Delegate Dick Sossi, R-36-Queen Anne's, and state Senator E.J. Pipkin, R-36-Upper Shore. Cecil County Delegate Michael Smigiel also expressed concern with the newspaper advertisements announcing the times and locations for the mid-October public hearings in Chestertown, Salisbury and Wye Mills. The notice did not mention the reason for the hearings was the proposed rate increase.

The notices of the hearings were published in 14 newspapers on the Eastern Shore and one newspaper in Harford County, according to an October 13 letter from James W. Boone, assistant general counsel for Delmarva Power, to Terry J. Romine, executive secretary for the Maryland Public Service Commission. The utility agreed that future hearing notices would state in the caption that a rate increase is being proposed.