(The Center Square) — Florida’s electricity rates are set to decrease slightly over the coming months for some customers, while others will likely remain the same.
According to data from the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC), electricity rates remain steady for three of the four investor-owned electric companies in the Sunshine State.
These include Duke Energy, Florida Power & Light, Tampa Electric Company, and the Florida Public Utilities Company.
Duke Energy’s base rate of $83.91 remains unchanged since January, and residential bills for 1,000 kilowatt hours of service average around $163.35. Florida Public Utilities Company remains one of the most expensive providers, with an average bill of $165.98.
The Tampa Electric Company has a base rate of $87.80, however, average residential bills are slightly lower at around $143.48 per month.
The state’s largest electric provider, Florida Power & Light , has two separate areas that are charged differently after the company merged with Gulf Power.
FPL’s former Gulf Power customers in Northwest Florida have an average bill of around $143.08, which decreased from an average of $149.70 in January. The rest of FPL’s residential customers pay the lowest monthly bills at $128.88.
FPL recently proposed lowering electricity rates, and the PSC is due to hear this proposal Tuesday. The proposal came after natural gas prices were lower than previously expected, and if approved customers could save a total of $662 million, with savings being seen on customer bills from May until December.
According to FPL’s website, customers could see decreases in April and then again in May, with residential customers using 1,000-kWh, having their bill reduced by over $14.
If the proposal is approved by PSC, Northwest FPL customers could see monthly bills reduced to $135.38 in May. FPL customers around the rest of Florida could see monthly bills decreased to $121.19 in May.
The company further states that the price decrease in April is due to the end of a temporary surcharge to pay for past hurricane restorations, which ended March 31.
The PSC also approved a $5 million refund to customers of FPL in late March, after they were charged “recovery” rates during outages at the power company’s nuclear power plants at Turkey Point and St. Lucie.
Published April 10, 2024
