Florida - Thursday December 29, 2022: The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) has approved an increase to Florida Power and Light (FP&L) rates, beginning in January 2023.
The adjustment will help pay for additional solar power, underground lines and improvements to the power grid, and some of the rate hike is already a built-in, four-year agreement approved by the Florida Public Service Commission.
The average residential customer who uses 1,000 kilowatts monthly will see their bill rise nearly five-dollars in January and just over four dollars in February.
Typical business customer bills will see an increase of 1.4% to 3.8% in January, depending on their rate class. Following the one-time federal tax savings refund in January, typical business customer bills will increase 3.3% to 4.7% in February, again, depending on their rate class.
High Rate Hikes Sought in April to Recovery Storm and Natural Gas Costs
The price of natural gas, which FP&L uses to power many of its plants, has increased more than 75% in the past year. It is now at the highest level its been since 2008. FPL is seeking to recoup about $2 billion in natural gas fuel costs it did not recover from customers in 2022 because of unpredictable market conditions. FPL has yet to factor that increase into customer bills.
FP&L and other Florida power companies have been hit not only by surging natural gas prices in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Two hurricanes caused wide spread damage to the utility's infrastructure this fall. Hurricane Ian was the fifth most powerful storm to ever make landfall in the United States. FP&L plans to seek cost recovery through a surcharge on customer bills for the incremental costs related to restoration from Hurricane Ian, as well as from Hurricane Nicole.
State regulators also approved FPL’s plan to pass on nearly $400 million in new federal tax savings over the next three years, including a one-time, $36 million refund that will be included in January bills and partially offset the approved rate increase.
In January 2023, FP&L will file a proposed cost recovery plan with the Public Service Commission seeking approval to recover those natural gas and storm costs over a 21-month period, beginning in April 2023. The proposed additional rate increases will be spread out over 21 months, instead of the typical 12-month recovery period.
The exact amount of the proposed cost recovery increase has yet to be released. FP&L says it is still finalizing its 2022 storm costs. They will release their bill projections for April 2023 once they file their formal proposal with the PSC.
READ more about the rate increase on FP&L's website: fpl.com/rates.