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Ouch! Shocking Gulf Power Bills Arriving After Latest Rate Increase
October 13, 2008
Many people are finding their latest Gulf Power bill shocking; bills arriving now in mailboxes across North Escambia are the first with a rate increase that was approved back during July.
Residential Gulf Power customers have seen an increase of 11.3 percent, raising the cost of 1,000 kilowatt hours from $102.22 to $113.76. In September 2007, that same amount of electricity would cost just $70.29. Gulf power says there will be no more rate increases this year, but there’s an application for a nine percent rate increase for January 2009.
In late July, the Florida Public Service Commission approved an 11.3 percent increase for Gulf Power, the electric utility in the area of North Escambia from Century south through Molino and continuing south into Pensacola. Areas such as Bratt, Oak Grove, Walnut Hill and Davisville west to Baldwin County, Alabama, are served by Escambia River Electric Cooperative.
Those higher bills are in the mail, and in the hands of consumers, across the area.
Citing double-digit increases in the price of natural gas and coal, Gulf Power asked the Florida Public Service Commission in July to approve an increase in electricity prices to cover a $76 million shortfall in 2008 revenues.
Gulf Power makes no profit on the cost of fuel. Customers are billed only what Gulf Power pays for the fuels used to make electricity.
To lessen the impact on customers, Gulf Power asked the FPSC to spread the increase out until the end of 2009, rather than collecting all of the shortfall in 2008 – the normal annual recovery period.
“The increase in the cost of fuel that we are experiencing is unprecedented,” said Gulf Power’s General Manager of Public Affairs John Hutchinson. “We don’t like increasing our prices especially at this difficult time. But just like the rising cost of gasoline, the cost of the fuels we use continues to climb. By spreading the shortfall out over a longer period of time we hope to lessen the impact as much as possible.”
The average price of coal, which fuels more than 80 percent of Gulf Power’s electricity generation, has risen 30 percent in the last year while average natural gas prices have jumped 47 percent since 2007.
Gulf Power was the third major utility in Florida to seek a mid-year fuel adjustment, with Florida Power and Light and Progress Energy seeking increases earlier this month. Normally, the FPSC adjusts electricity prices each January for fuel price fluctuations. But coal and natural gas prices have risen so rapidly in 2008, utilities are being forced to ask for mid-year adjustments.
Electric utility customers pay only the actual fuel costs that the company incurs. When fuel prices go up, the additional costs are passed through to customers. And when fuel prices go down, the savings are passed through to customers. Fuel costs have a major impact on electricity bills, accounting for almost 50 percent of the total bill.
To help customers, Gulf Power offers free energy checkups to identify energy efficiency measures to save homeowners and businesses money on their electricity bills. The company also offers rebates on Geothermal heating and cooling systems which save up to 40 percent on heating and cooling costs, as well as innovative rates and residential energy management systems to help customers lower their bills. And, the company offers a number of payment options and programs to help customers smooth out payments during high-bill months. Plan details and energy-saving tips are available at www.gulfpower.com.
Comments
6 Responses to “Ouch! Shocking Gulf Power Bills Arriving After Latest Rate Increase”
So I received a bill of $2200.00 and of course had to pay it , which they had kept the power on . Well a few months go by and I get my power shut off over a past due bill of $300 in which I was not notified that my paper bill was switched to electronic to an email I don’t even know and in which the person I spoke with would not tell me . So gulf power can suck it in my book for letting my power bill get up to over $2000 without shutting my power off but a minor ,petty bill of $300 was just too outrageous . A southern company- = A southern monopoly is more like it .
I live in a one bedroom apartment. Just opened my bill in the mail and my bill doubled from the previous month. I could have spit fire. I talked to other tenants and the few I spoke to told me that their bills have doubled, some tripled when compared with last month. This is what happens when corporations get so big that they get a god complex. Way too many of these out there. It’s ruthless and entirely wrong but when monopolies take over and all of these crooked politicians in government…can anyone expect better? I’m so sick of working and putting my life on hold so that these people can rape the average american of their hard earned money.
these kind of companies are why the economy is messed up, ive never seen my power bill this high in ten years
I agree Glen! Last month my wife found an agency that would give us $200 to go towards our bill otherwise we couldn’t pay it. We have E.R.E.C. and I swear those folks just stick it to you. I work at UWF, have a disabled wife and two kids. I never thought in my 56 years that power was going to be such a rip-off. If I had the money I would construct solar panels, get a pallet of industrial batteries and sell the excess back to them.
My wife had the agency send them a voucher way before the bill would have been late. I saw that it had not been applied so I had her call them and she was told, “We received it but we just haven’t entered it yet so we’re going to have to charge you an $8 late fee.” My wife got a bit upset and we are not going to be charged the fee but can you imagine the gall?
Just going deeper and deeper in the hole in Allentown…….
Rip-off is an understatement; drug dealers conduct their business with far more integrity and openness than the executives of Gulf Power and their minions on the Florida Public Service Commission. January 2008, 10% rate increase for consumers in Northwest Florida, September 2008 11.3% rate increase and now after the election Gulf Power will be requesting an additional 9% increase for January 2009. The increase’s are entirely contributed to rising fuel cost which have declined 48.2% during the same period. The Florida Public Service Commission bought it, hook line and sinker! Gulf Power did report 2nd quarter 2008 loss’s but according to Marketwatch.com the loss’s are primarily contributed to bad investments, more politely referred to as LEVERAGED INVESTMENTS.
I include this excerpt from Gulf Power’s publicly disclosed records posted on marketwatch.com to support my charge.
“Southern Company’s second quarter 2008 earnings were $416.4 million ($0.54 per share) compared to $429.2 million ($0.57 per share) for the second quarter 2007. The decrease in the second quarter 2008 when compared to the same period in 2007 was primarily the result of a significant charge related to leveraged lease investments, higher other operations and maintenance expenses, and higher depreciation and amortization. The second quarter 2008 decrease was partially offset by an increase in contributions from market-response rates to large commercial and industrial customers and retail base rate increases at Alabama Power and Georgia Power”.
I am a redneck in Milton Florida that did not finish high school. I came home from work opened a beer set down on the computer and in 15 minutes figured this out.
What a ripoff! How is that going to help the economy you greedy people. Fuel costs have gone down so fix your cost.