Millions of utility customers across the state of Florida will face an increase in their electric bills starting in April.
The Florida Public Service Commission approved a series of proposals that will increase the amounts of money that Florida Power & Light, Duke Energy Florida and Tampa Electric Co. will collect from consumers.
In January, FPL said it would ask for the agency to approve collecting $1.3 billion in recovery costs related to Hurricane Ian, which made landfall Sept. 28 along the southwest coast of the state, and Nicole, which made landfall Nov. 10 near Vero Beach.
FPL also aims to collect over $2 billion due to high natural gas prices, but that would be partially offset by reductions in the amount the company expects to collect in 2023 by $1 billion.
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"FPL has a proven track record of keeping bills below the national average. When events beyond our control – like hurricanes and significant changes in fuel prices – force a change to customer bills, we try to do so in a thoughtful way that minimizes the impact on our customers while balancing the risk of invoices piling up," Chairman and CEO Eric Silagy said in a statement at the time of the proposal.
Customers in FPL's traditional service areas, including South Florida, saw a nearly $5 increase in January and were expected to have a $4 increase in February. Customers could see an average increase of $13 in April.
Ian's landfall impacted customers in counties including Lee, Charlotte, Sarasota and DeSoto while Nicole's landfall impacted counties along the east coast of the state serviced by FPL.
