Gulf Power Reaches Rate Increase Settlement

March 21, 2017

A rate hike on the horizon for hundreds of thousands of Gulf Power customers might not be as big as initially proposed.

The Northwest Florida utility agreed Monday to a settlement with the state Office of Public Counsel, which objected to an original proposal to raise base rates by $106.8 million. An announcement of the settlement came just prior to the start of a hearing before the Florida Public Service Commission.

The settlement proposal, which the commission agreed to consider April 4, would add about $7 to the monthly bills of typical residential customers who use 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month, according to Gulf Power.

“Energy providers can’t just sit and coast,” Gulf Power spokesman Jeff Rogers said. “We have to continue to invest in infrastructure, transmission lines, substations. We’re a 90-year-old company. We’ve got equipment constantly aging and that constantly has to be invested in to ensure the reliability our customers expect.”

If the request is approved, the company projects that starting July 1, the monthly bill for typical residential customers will grow from $144 to $151.

The initial request sought to boost the typical monthly bill to $158.

The state Office of Public Counsel, which represents customers in utility cases, initially argued that base rates should decrease by about $2 million. No objection was raised to the settlement proposal on Monday by other parties involved in the case, which range from Walmart to the Sierra Club.

In the agreement, Gulf Power’s original request for a $106.8 million base-rate increase would fall to $62 million through the end of 2019. However, the company projects the net impact to customers would come to $54.3 million.

The filing before the PSC now says Gulf Power would seek a “return on equity,” a measure of profitability, of 10.25 percent, down from the original proposal of 11 percent. Gulf Power also is also now seeking to take a one-time $32.5 million write down on costs related to a Georgia power plant, known as Plant Scherer.

Gulf Power in the past has sold electricity from the plant on the wholesale market but now uses power from the plant for its retail customers.

The Pensacola-based Gulf Power is one of four major investor-owned utilities in Florida. It serves about 450,000 customers in eight Northwest Florida counties.

by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida

Comments

6 Responses to “Gulf Power Reaches Rate Increase Settlement”

  1. Reality on April 4th, 2017 8:03 am

    Majority of the population can turn off the cell phone to save money. Its easy to move to free tv with a 25 dollar antenna- Its near impossible to live without power. Going off grid costs 50,000 at least so thats not an option for 98 percent of the population. Lets keep comments based on reality…thanks

  2. Honey on March 24th, 2017 4:50 am

    Complaints complaints. Boo hoo. My cable bill is ridiculous for basic expanded cable. Yet they continue to raise my monthly bill while taking away channels. My cell phone bill has so much fluff in it that it makes me sick. Now let’s discuss electric. Let’s see. I only pay for the amount of kilowatts I used. Hmmm. I like that!!! The way I see it that’s a bargain. Those of you who don’t well….. go off the grid. For me I will gladly keep my electric. Quit hating on the power company.

  3. anne 1of2 on March 21st, 2017 4:54 pm

    I thought about this last night and figured they would work out a deal for now. I decided Gulf Power will keep me cold and I’ll cut down on the ice cream I eat in the summer.
    Nothing against the men in those trucks either, they do earn their money. Those pretty trucks were the first thing I noticed but they have to have trustworthy trucks.

  4. nod on March 21st, 2017 3:03 pm

    What really bugs me is Gulf Power pays for commercials to show how great they are but yet they have no competition. what a waste of money and we pay for it. And they also say they must pay inbester a certain rate no matter what. CAN YOU SAY MONOPOLY?? VERY UNFAIR.

  5. Concerned Citizen on March 21st, 2017 9:31 am

    Wouldn’t it be nice, if everytime WE (the consumer) lost equity, or interest, or profit margins, or just plain old money – we could just RAISE our rate on something to get it back??? Let’s see, multi million dollar new buildings, trucks, raises for the big boys….. Yes, it been tough GP. It’s not like we can go to ANOTHER supplier for our electricity. You know, we have ALL had to tighten up our financial belts. Perhaps GP should take a crash course in BELT TIGHTENING and not BELT RAISING?? Just a thought…….

  6. mike on March 21st, 2017 7:44 am

    Well, if anybody deserves more money it’s the power company! I mean, just look at the dilapidated state of those trucks in the picture! If you go down to Bayfront & look there’s an employees parking lot full of junkers! And you know their homes are just hovels! (cue eye roll).

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News