Florida Public Service Commission

The Florida Public Service Commission has oversight of certain issues for local utilities but does not regulate their rates.

The Public Service Commission is slated March 7 to take up proposals from Duke and other state utilities. Customers can expect to see higher bills in April.

One legislator compared customers paying surcharges while not being able to vote for municipal offices as “taxation without representation.”

Under the proposals, the increases would mean around 20% higher electric bills for Duke customers and about 10% for TECO customers.

Bills will go up for many customers of Duke Energy Florida, Tampa Electric, FPL and Florida Public Utilities. They likely will increase again in the spring because of high costs of natural gas used to fuel power plants.

Duke customers are expected to see increased electric bills in 2023, but the proposal would ease that rise.

The Public Service Commission approved the plans but expressed concerns about how the costs could impact future utility bills.

In 2021, the number of residential residential wirelines dropped by 19.1%, while business wirelines declined 15.4%. That came after years of similar decreases.

Florida Power & Light, Duke Energy Florida and Tampa Electric Co. filed the proposals in order to add underground power lines and reduce outage threats from trees and other vegetation.

Can Florida get all of its electricity from renewable sources by the year 2050?

Sen. Jennifer Bradley of Fleming Island sponsored the bill, which she said provides more fairness than making all utility customers pay for solar users.

Cities (and school districts) across Florida have committed to getting 100% of their power from renewable energy sources in recent years but found themselves stymied by the monopoly utilities that provide all of their energy.