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Gulf Power To Recover $13.2 Million In Pandemic Costs From Customers
July 10, 2021
Gulf Power customers will pay up to $13.2 million in costs related to the utility’s COVID-19 measures under a settlement approved this week by the Florida Public Service Commission.
The settlement includes safety related measures and bad debt expenses because the utility did not disconnect nonpaying customers between March and November of 2020.
The Office of Public Counsel (OPC) — representing consumers — entered into separate stipulation and settlement agreements with Gulf Power Company on issues concerning their petitions to charge customers for COVID-19 costs.
Under the settlement, Gulf Power can only claim COVID-19 expenses, up to the $13.2 million, only through June 30, 2021. Any other costs associated with the pandemic or otherwise incurred after through the end of 2021 will be categorized as a separate event.
The COVID-19 cost recovery won’t appear as a separate line item on customers’ bills. Instead, the funds will be recovered over three years as part of the fuel and purchase power recovery clause.
Gulf Power, now a part of Florida Power & Light Company, serves approximately 463,000 customers in Northwest Florida.
Comments
72 Responses to “Gulf Power To Recover $13.2 Million In Pandemic Costs From Customers”
I paid my bill.And for years…..l have been overcharged.l have lived here all my life!!
l have no central heat and air.No clothes dryer, no dishwasher and hotwater heater. No extra.1 tv,washer and a small ac window unit that l only use at nite.l am outside or gone during day.And it’s jus me…l am tired of paying for something, l don’t have.Trying t keep my bill under $300 and it shouldn’t b that…..
The office of public council representing me the consumer shouldn’t exist period….
Petty level 90000:
We all demand to receive our bills in BRAILLE.
$13,200,000 divided by 463,000 Customers is $28.51 (Per Person)
If it’s collected over 3 years then it’s a total of 36 payments resulting in a bill increase of $0.79 … lets relax!
So Gulf Power wants NO LIABILITY in this? No one promised them to make billions every year….let them eat it…surely they have some sort of fund for this type of thing without passing it all onto their customers….
I paid my bills, always on time. I’m not paying for deadbeats. Is an attorney present? This could be a good opportunity. Gulf Power already has a monopoly on electricity here so now they can penalize us over the next three years for their own bad debt issues? This isn’t right.
Why don’t they get it from the money coming from the feds. Or make the ones that didn’t pay their bills, pay more!!!
We already get charged for Hurricanes. Now you want to try this? How about we put in a FOIA on what Gulf Power received from the government during this pandemic period, then hold the Board liable for outright theft after a mandatory audit is held. Maybe governor DeSantis needs to….circle back with the company.
Make those that didn’t pay, ” PAY ” not me and my family.! We have always paid our elc.bill on time every time. Everyone needs to know what was the electric company’s profit for 2019,2020 and this portion of 2021. Will it show a negative or a positive profit. Gulf power needs to do the right thing and not the wrong one. Making the ones that didn’t pay pay is the right thing. Making those of us who did pay our bills is the wrong thing. I firmly believe that the power company should be paid for their services. BUT NOT by those of us that did not abuse it!
Let me get this straight, I have to pay for someone else that didn’t pay their bill for whatever reason. Does that mean that FPL will not be going after these delinquent accounts or will FPL be paid twice for these accounts? It’s my understanding that power companies will still go after these delinquent accounts, while forcing other customers to also pay for these accounts, so they are being paid twice for the same service, that amounts to thievery!!!
At – Phyllis
By that logic you need to pay for power you did not use.
@ Phyllis McGowan
So you want to be paid for something you did not receive?
Now that is a handout of wanton greed .
Tell me in this world…tell all of us in fact where you can get money for something you did not pay for.
How obtuse a person gets amazes me every day.
God bless your soul
What happened to the State “Pandemic” Funds that were paid to Gulf Power (FPL) to help cover these types of losses?
I, too, worked through the “Pandemic” so I could pay my bills and support my family.
Oh and on the flip side –Gulf Power (FPL)– why are consumers not reimbursed or credited for “Power Outages” or “Power Surges” when those happen? The number of power interruptions & outages can add up quickly and a lot times can be anywhere from minutes to days. (Even minutes add up according to the information on your invoices).
I pay full bills for power that’s interrupted or can’t be utilized for whatever the reason every month.
So Gulf Power, where’s my due credit? The one that doesn’t come with another addition of “misc fees” that acts to recoup to my credit?
Justification needed.
What all you good people fail to understand is every paycheck, every item bought…etc..
You are paying for billions and billions through the the government to do this and millions of other “programs” with tax money. Every person who received stimulus money where you needed it or did not send it back or refuse it.
The government in itself pays zero on anything you can think …every single penny comes from us and is failing to understand the government is you money handler.
EVERY SINGLE PENNY!
Your $$$ every single day has been given to those welfare agencies and disburse it and call it the government hand out.
EBT …we all pay for that and other programs…
Medicare Medicaid…I could spend all day naming all the “programs” you pay for.
So be it Gulf Power , the government, Federal and Local…we all pay for it.
This extra that will be paid is indeed being paid by us that others did not pay.
This Gulf Power increase is but a spec of sand in the desert compared to what you have been paying for for many decades via the government
In America we are paying for everyone on everything
All monies going overseas…to help other nations.
Republican or Democrat…running our government….its the great American economy you pay for…good or bad.
Like it or not…doesn’t stop it.
Keep in mind, the next time you hold any money in your hand..I mean even a penny, someone worked for it ..stole it..etc..but you paid for it.
When all this is completed Gulf Power will recover twice the money. We the customer will pay and those who did not pay will also pay. The individuals who did not pay are not forgiven of their debt they will eventually pay .All this money they owe will continue to be owed and if they ever move and try to establish new Gulf Power service they will have to pay what they owe to get service. The only way for them to get around this is to use their children’s SSN to get new service. See this all the time.
This is ridiculous!! I shouldn’t have to be paying electric bills of those people who chose not to pay their bills even when stimulus checks were received by all who qualified. Those who could not afford to pay their bills, should have fit into that category, but chose to do other things with the stimulus money. I am not responsible for picking up the charges that those people chose not to pay in that Gulf Power allowed to continue to have power because of their poor choices.
Why did they not set up a payment plan with the customers who owed them money?
When I owed them money a long time ago, they called me and set up a payment plan. Why are they getting a free ride? My husband lost his job due to COVID and we paid all of our bills. I guess we could have stopped paying our electric bill. No, I was raised better than that. Pay your bills people! Especially when checks were being sent to y’all for that purpose. Shame on the people who did not pay their bills and shame on our electric company. Right is right and wrong is wrong.
You know I paid my bills, never had the luxury of taking a day off. I am 63 years old. So why am I responsible for someone else’s bill. They should have paid their bills with their extra unemployment and stimulus money. Make them pay their bills or do without power. That is what you would do to everybody else. Gulf Power you are not right for this. Nobody ever offered me free electricity or pay my bill for me. I am all for helping other people but quit givining away all the donations to every organization to make your selves look better.
In what world is it ok to punish people who paid their bills on time and did the right thing? This is insanity. I don’t know a single person who got to skip paying their power bill during covid.
http://www.floridaopc.gov – should have to answer why there was not clear communication about this, with public input, prior to the decision to make those of us who paid our bills responsible for the bills of those who did not. Not cool. FOIA definitely needed here.
I bet you a months power bill, FAILED TO REALIZE, works for gulp power….
How do you get away with not paying? I’ve never had Gulf Power make a free offer. How did that happen? Deferred payment, yes. Free power, never happened.
well well well gulp power is at it again…..COVID COSTS? WOW…….We all had covid costs….DUH….Take it out of your profits or reserves. This billion dollar company is run like billy’s roofing company. I wonder wat our rates would be if we didnt have all these hidden fees. IVAN storm cost recovery. The storm in Panama City. Add onn fees for sally to rebuild all the lines they will tell us are 80 years old and need to be replaced again in 10 years and NEED A RATE INCREASE to do it. It NEVER ends with this bunch. WHEN WILL OUR RATES GO DOWN SINCE WE SWITCHED TO ALL NATURAL GAS? Oh yea we lost half a BILLION on the carbon scrubbers. We lost MILLIONS when gulp hedged the price of natural gas. The list goes on and on and on….All with the blessings of the PSC. Sad world we live in. The PSC is nothing more than the fox wathing the hen house.
I really doubt it’s the bill amounts. They sent those to collection. So don’t worry, those “lazy” people who had their jobs DISAPPEAR because of ridiculous lockdowns (except for Walmart’s and grocers WHERE YOU HAD EVERYONE HAVE TO VISIT this creating ‘super-spreader’ chances) and who had to deal with a completely broken unemployment system that didn’t pay them or respond for six months or more, have their credit ruined by this company.
I’m betting those “expenses” are write downs and booked losses from selling the debt in bulk to lawyers who will sue those people.
And, if you think when people were unemployed and weren’t paid for months oh gosh they must have gotten big checks at once. Sure, after late charges, increased deposits, increased debt service and piled up bills those big amounts went probably 20% to feed etc that wouldn’t have been necessary had the system not intentionally been designed to fail.
Yes. I had to do the unemployment. 25 years and boom job gone. Did everything I could and Florida was a slap in the face. Paid into the system for decades only to be stalled and stalled. Begged and made deals w companies trying to keep food for mg kids on the table and utilities on AND a roof over their heads. Calling unemployment every day for hours and hours on hold only to be told it would be anytime… weeks months later nothing. And then you get the wonderful “oh we haven’t paid you any for last quarter but it’s a new quarter so you have to reapply” crap.
Then they fix it and until a new quarter comes bam back to zero.
Stop calling all those who HAD NO CHOICE but to take unemployment or try to lazy!
Walk the last year and half in my shoes and go blow if you think I’ve sat around. I tried to get any and every job open but this crap about businesses dying for workers is a lie. They want PERFECTLY qualified and experienced workers. I can do any job as long as I get some on the job training but that’s not what businesses want. They want to offer the lowest wage to only the perfect candidate at 32 hours or less. Why 32 and less? Because then you can shift the benefits cost if health insurance to the government and don’t have to offer it as they are not full time.
There may be some loafers but damn well there are those like me who applied constantly and did the work search requirements and reported them EVERY WEEK even when not required.
I’m sick and tired of paying for the lazy. I’m a single mother who has never not had a job, I don’t make a lot of money but I’ve never missed a bill. Ever in my life. I make too much to get any assistance of any kind.. not that I want it!! It’s very unfair that I never missed my power bill payment and have to pay for the people who didn’t pay theirs. Get a dang job people!! Stop freeloading.
All of you folks so upset about this fail to realize or acknowledge that providing area-wide power coverage to those of us who CHOOSE to live in rural areas costs WAY more than customers in urban areas.
In order to provide EVERYONE with electricity, costs must be shared amongst the customers.
Is someone living in town who doesn’t require restoration of individual power lines in a rural setting responsible for you?
Power providers are a collective–yes, socialism.
It’s how big advances happen, and the fact that rural power customers cost more than urban folks is a fact.
We are subsidized by all of the other ratepayers.
Those are the facts, so if you want autonomy from the system, get off the grid and fend for yourselves.
A lot of people living on little or no means at all paid their bill even if they couldn’t eat because of it . They shouldn’t have to pay for the ones who didn’t pay their bill. This company didn’t loose any dang money., so, some people didn’t get a bonus last year waaaahhhhh! You are all going to hell for making the poor suffer!
Everyone here screaming about “Marxism & Socialism,” this is the more proper definition:
Crony Capitalism:
an economic system characterized by close, mutually advantageous relationships between business leaders and government officials.
Maybe they could quit spending money on advertising telling us so how wonderful they are and use that money to cover their “losses”.
Why advertise? What options do we have?
Here is a thought. Charge the ones who did not pay their bills during that time. Everyone should nit have to take up the slack for those who did not pay.
Just think a lot of these people didn’t go to work because they were scared and they didn’t go back because the government was sending them checks. Many still haven’t gone back to work because they are hoping to get more free checks. I didn’t miss a day of work though even though I was concerned about my health. Now we are penalized for others HORRIBLE work ethic and we will be paying through federal taxes and increased costs for years because people were so scared. I know people who started new businesses and I know people who just sat at home. Guess who will continue to succeed and get ahead? That’s right the ones who were hard working and resilient, the leeches will always be a scourge to society.
welcome to northwest Florida been here since the 1950’s seen this town grow in leaps & bounds. folks the bottom line is this your living in a retirement area where everyone wants to move here loving the beach’s to the low cost of living. it’s not as bad now as I predict its going to get. so in due time your cost of living will double in the next few years. it’s to the point where folks will not be able to live here unless your born into a wealthy family. and yes you will have to pay the electric bill or power goes out. so question is can you go without. hey I will wash your car for $500.00 don’t lowball me I’m worth it.
@ Bob…
Bob, did you know that ECUA can place a LEIN on your home-property if you do not pay for your trash/garbage pickup?
AND….every address Must have their pickup done.
Found out years ago when trying to help a very elderly neighbor by putting his 2 small bags a week into my garbage.
ECUA came by, went thru my can on street, found trash mail to him in the small bags and sent both of us a Notice that he had to have own can and pay for it or we’d both be charged……
$13,2000,000 spread over 463,000 customers is some $28.51 per customer.
“Recovered” over 3 years (36 months) each bill would be increased about $0.80cents per month.
Y’all, I’ll keep paying my GP bill (and fussing on occasion) and keep my lights and A/C and heat running.
Understand the feeling of “ONE MORE THING” from Big Business but where else we gonna get our electricity unless you’re willing to invest in solar or wind power, I’m not. So….bring on that EIGHTY Cents per month and Pray real hard we have no natural disasters or more Biological Warfare Experiments from “Them”.
This is stupid, instead, tack on more to the people who didn’t pay, I haven’t missed a single payment with them and I should not be penalized for it. My bill is already way more than it should be, and you are now going to make it worse. I hope they fail as a company and someone else buys them out so they can run a company like it should be ran!
This is pure Socialism and should be challenged in a higher court! No way in hell would I pay more because others didn’t pay at all. They should’ve cut their power off, that’s the law and a part of the service agreement. If I had Gulf Power, I would start a group Law Suit against them. Also I’d be converting to Solar!
How many power surges or blips do you get in one month – so far From June to July 21 on 6/26/21 @ 0745 on a beautiful sunny day – 7/8/21 @ 1211 on a beautiful sunnday day @7/10/21 @ 1040 on a beautiful sunny day. I have recorded years of power surges.
Get you a gas generator and pay the fuel and maintenance to run it, see how it compares to your power bill from company
The Fla PSC has shown
who they favor……They HAVE NOT
favor the customer of the state of Florida….
they seem NOT to care about the average
person try to make a living………..
Oh my apologies I almost forgot I deal in facts not “opinion” here is a link to see for your self how much PPP gulf power got.
https://ricksblog.biz/who-got-ppp-loans-over-150k-in-pensacola-gulf-breeze/
Let’s begin.
If you are complaining that there is nothing that you can do or that you don’t have a “voice” you are mistaken. You can invest in solar energy for your home and actually get paid BY gulf power (they don’t have the respect for me to capitalize their name).
This gives you both a voice and a solution.
To those complaining about “paying for the irresponsible” guess you forgot that half the industries in our country shut down for an entire year?!? That means wait staff, cashiers, bartenders, dish washers, cleaning crews all laid off ALL LAID OFF (in case you missed it the first time). That means they had no jobs to pay bills and yes there was unemployment but how much do you think that was per person per month? 2k 3k 4k??? Nope about 700.00 per month for food, utilities, medicines and any other NEED you might have. Lets see you complainers make that work for a family of 4.
And lastly (and boy do I mean Lastly) gulf power how shameful you new owners are you lied about the website changes. You lied about raising prices what will you lie about next? Just how much PPP money did you receive? I know it was over 350,000 and you got PPP forgiveness to boot!! That means you got over 350k of tax payer money for free thanks to our wonderful gov. And now thanks to them you get to raise our rates AND you dont even have to tell us when you’re all paid up which means you get to KEEP THE RATES RAISED and NO ONE WILL NO!! Man you lucky dogs.
This is not a unique situation. It seems to me that when they help you, eventually they make you pay it back. Help is needed when these disasters occur. I think It’s cruel for them to make deserving people pay it back.
My opinion!
I’m a widow on social security and have never had a late payment to anyone. The people who couldn’t or wouldn’t pay need to be investigated and the money that they received from the government needs to be taken back to pay their bills. Why should I have to pay for people who are now cheating us all?
“bad debt expenses because the utility did not disconnect nonpaying customers between March and November of 2020.”
Unbelievable we have come to this. I guess this is the “share the wealth” Marxism.
We pay their housing, food, cell phone, now we are paying their bills. And this is why racism is building every day, not necessarily color racism.
Will I be able to deduct this forced charity expense? I should not have to pay the bills for someone who just decided to live under the system. My hard work is to pay my bills and support my family not yours or anybody elses. I give to charity as I see fit and deduct it from my taxes.
There should be a way to see who did and didn’t pay and add the charges to the one’s that didn’t pay. We paid ours on time. We struggled a little at the beginning but got back on track after the 1st month. I dont think its fair that we have to pay for others expenses when we’re trying to care for ourselves. I have 3 children and a husband. Thats enough for us to worry/care for, much less anyone else.
Although 28.50 is not alot to spread out over 3 years, the policy of the power company to allow those to not pay their bills is not the responsibility of the paying customers! That cost should be absorbed by the company and the ???government? I wonder if the power company received money from the government in stimulus? Those getting the money from the government to pay their bills and do not do so? Life is never fair, is it? My paycheck will not go up any to accommodate the high inflation cost of gas groceries power company cost etc…. But by all means lets keep the power company in the billions of profits per year they are accustomed too! J/S
So i guess when the next “pandemic” hit I won’t pay my bill for a year, even though i get money from the government. Sounds reasonable to me.
IF YOU USED IT PAY FOR IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Did GP or its affiliates receive Covid stimulus money or PPP? They were not down and everyone worked, same as law firms yet seems they all benefited greatly……reasonable question to ask and report on…….William?
@Bob
A private company operating as a local monopoly choosing to increase its prices is Marxism?
It seems the only way to stop the widespread Marxism of these companies would be for the workers to unite and seize the means of production so they could administer the company themselves.
There are 5 commissioners appointment by Fla Governor & approved by Fla Senate.
These 5 people “has the responsibility to set rates that are fair, just and reasonable. It is also required to set rates to allow utility investors an opportunity to earn a reasonable return on their investment.”
Check out web site http://www.psc.state.fl.us/AboutPSC/Overview
See the name & pictures of the 5 PSC that sit and wait for the staff to do the work for them to approve.
Socialism at its finest.
I pay my bill and those who can’t or won’t.
I know a person that worked for a local water company and many times people would tell them that they did not have to pay their water bill because of Covid. Their response was well then you will have your water turned off. Had Gulf power had this same policy there would not be a problem. In most cases the ones who did not pay their bill were on covid relief and receiving several hundreds of dollars a week from the FEMA Supplemental Payments for Lost Wages fund to sit at home. This I know from personal observation.
So those of us who did not take advantage of the stay-at-home covid fund and put ourselves at risk going to work every day, are going to absorb the cost for those that played on the taxpayer’s expense. Yes, many of them played. Again, I know this as fact, having seen it firsthand. I do understand there were some who did legitimately lose their jobs, but they were also compensated with the covid relief fund, in addition to the state unemployment. Many times, receiving more that their regular pay. Again, firsthand observations.
There was also the Paycheck Protection Program, which amounted to loans for businesses to help pay their employees during the Covid crisis. Of course, now there is a loan forgiveness program.
All these programs funded by the federal government and paid for by the taxpayers. I am thinking it is getting about time to start throwing some tea in the water.
I just don’t get how they can “settle” on this settlement, when we have to pay for it. But it’s whatever, the little man never has a voice in a monopoly. We already have to pay for people who refuse to go to work, now we have to pay for the bills people didn’t pay. I just don’t understand.
This is crazy, we already have to pay people’s income that refuse to go to work. Now we have to pay for people’s power that didn’t get paid. I just can’t wrap my head around it.
It is incomprehensible to me that I should have to pay for those too sorry to pay their own bills! Biden gave them enough money to stay home and not work…why did they not use it to pay their bills? People were giving away food almost every week, and feeding kids everyday, so all they needed to do was pay their bills! UNREAL! I might have to buy a generator…
This really doesn’t surprise me at all. When you own a monopoly business like this power company you’re pretty much on your own to screw over your customers however you deem necessary. Their lack of financial planning causes rate increases every year for storm damage recovery and now those who worked throughout the plandemic to pay their bills will have to absorb the cost of those who didn’t. The corporate exec’s will all get their big bonuses and pat each other on the backs for jobs well done while the consumers take another hit. I detest attorneys but it seems like a great opportunity for a heavy hitter like the Levin firm to step in with a class action lawsuit against the holders of this monopoly.
On second thought, maybe this isn’t so bad? I pay ECUA every month to pick up my garbage. Some weeks they pick up my garbage and some weeks they don’t pick up my garbage. I still pay the bill in full every month.
with the amount of customers,the amount they want to recover,it comes down to $ 30.00 per customer.not saying it is right or wrong
I just don’t get how they can “settle” on this settlement, when we have to pay for it. But it’s whatever, the little man never has a voice in a natural monopoly.
I guess this is called equity or “fair share”. I call it Marxism.
Florida Power & Light Company has an endless income stream – their customers.
Why change anything?
First of all, most people got stimulus money to keep paying their bills and if unemployed, they got unemployment (an added $600.00 a week at that).
And businesses received PPE money to help cover costs due to Covid as well!
Just another way to jack up the bills!
Do the math! It comes out to $28.50 per customer. Didn’t they get PPP money to cover that?
Does the Public Service Commission ever say No? The people that didn’t pay before won’t pay now either. As always, the responsible ones lay the debts for the irresponsible! Not like we have a choice.
This should not be a surprise, most businesses in the country are doing the same thing, only more covertly. Prices for goods and services going up, restaurants and bars adding on a COVID fee, and supply shortages causing price increases. With that said, recovering added expenses for additional safety measures is one thing, but making me pay for others bad debt is a whole different matter. They should be making these people pay their debt or write if off, and not penalizing paying customers. I do feel sorry for those that had a rough time and no job during this pandemic, but that’s not my problem, I have my own problems to worry about.
So those of us who worked the entire pandemic and managed to keep all of our bills paid are going to be charges for those who could not or just did not paid their bills? Does not seem fair to make me pay the cost of others.
You got money people. Pay your freaking bills. You can make payment arrangements.
How big of them!! They do the right thing for once – BECAUSE WE ALL PAY THEM BACK! It isn’t as if they already got an increase and it isn’t as if they are going to have a SLOW DOWN in obtaining more customers-look at all the new construction!! More and More and MORE – BIG BUSINESS RULES THE WORLD
I’d prefer to see the cost as an additional line item so I know exactly how much this is costing me rather than have it hidden in the bill. I’m curious how much Gulf Power was asking for originally, or did the OPC give them all they were claiming?
So everyone will experience a rate increase on their power bill in order to cover the cost of those who didn’t pay their own power bills? No individual accountability. Sad to say, but this is the American mentality. This happens all the time – from food, to housing, to health care. Let those who work and pay their own bills and taxes pay for those who can’t or who won’t. I should be used to this by now. I am of the belief that if an able-bodied man will not work, neither should he eat. Ok. I’m through complaining now. No applause – just throw money.
How are the people who paid their bills all of a sudden responsible for those who didn’t? I understand some people weren’t able to pay their bills but gulf power should go after those people who didn’t pay not the ones who did. We already have to pay for people who choose to sit on the a$$es at home while the rest of us go to work. We should not be responsible for other people’s debts.
Heaven forbid that they have to not get bonuses this year.. so since people couldn’t pay back then, lets hit the ones that were paying their bills and charge them more… we are already paying for Hurricane damages that occurred and that they had to replace poles and wires… we just had an increase in fees due to the solar farm that is going in… when the hell do they pay for their own crap… I for one am.so tired of FPL screwing us over… but of course there is nothing we can do since they are the only ones out here