Escambia County Calling For State Review Of FPL’s Rates

March 26, 2022

Escambia County will ask the Florida Public Service Commissioner to review Florida Power & Light rates.

The county commission voted this week for Commission Chairman Jeff Bergosh to draft a letter to the PSC. The board will vote on approval of the letter next at an April meeting.

The cities of Pensacola, Milton and Crestview have already sent similar letters to the PSC.

Last October, the PSC approved a four-year rate settlement for FPL that will mean a near term rate increase for Gulf Power customers in the Panhandle, but a reduction in the long term. Due to increased fuel costs, the rate increase turned out to cost FPL customers more money.

FPL’s parent company NextEra purchased Gulf Power in 2019, and the companies legally merged on January 1, 2021. FPL now serves 5.6 million customer accounts from Miami to Pensacola across more than half of Florida.

Comments

22 Responses to “Escambia County Calling For State Review Of FPL’s Rates”

  1. Johnny Five on March 29th, 2022 2:51 pm

    I don’t think the power is that expensive down here compared to up north. I think 13 cents a KW hour is kind of a bargain. I guess the rates must be higher in different parts of Florida. I built a 3000 watt off grid solar system that powers a good part of my dethatched workshop. It feels real good to go in there and leave all the lights on and work with out running up the bill. I guess everyone has a different story but I myself have been looking to make my house more efficient over time. Over the last two years I installed a few ductless mini splits in the house that cool just one room. Runs for 80% less than the main AC unit. I can actually leave my bedroom door open and the cold air runs around half the house and saves the big 4000 watt central AC from firing up. All my lights are LED and the biggest thing that happened is the kids grew up and left. lol. That is about the best energy saving thing you can do. :)

  2. Laurie Woodworth on March 27th, 2022 6:23 pm

    Why should we wait until April for a letter to be drafted on the rates that FPL are charging. It should be drafted now. They need to explain why we should pay for their purchase of Gulf Power. There was no reason that they couldn’t adopt the same rate per kilowatt hour that Gulf power was using. Instead they gaslighted us and said we are paying the highest rates in Florida. We certainly are now!!! DISGUSTING is all I can say.

  3. Andrew on March 27th, 2022 2:39 pm

    … except FPL essentially owns DeSantis (check the campaign contributions), so good luck getting anything out of him or them– its always about the money!

  4. Mr. Metoo on March 27th, 2022 10:02 am

    If the county would pay my legal fees I could afford my bill to double.

  5. Country Living on March 27th, 2022 9:31 am

    Go EREC!!!

  6. Shaking My Head on March 27th, 2022 8:15 am

    FPL is going to do what it wants, and it really doesn’t matter what any country or city government says.
    They’ve been planning this for years.

  7. Troy on March 27th, 2022 12:45 am

    Pretty good monopoly FPL has going on. Where else can you go to for power? NO WHERE!! And they know it.

  8. The Great Reset on March 27th, 2022 12:06 am

    The frig running in a vacant house ran the bill up to $300 since FPL took over.

  9. LOLA MEHAFFEY on March 26th, 2022 8:40 pm

    this is wrong how our light bill keeps going up.These people need to come to a conclusion with this light bill.I have been living here for all most 5 years and my lights have never been this high even at Christmas time this is ridiculous.So what the h… is going on.So please people do something and come down on our lights.

  10. Shannon Pellegrini on March 26th, 2022 4:14 pm

    My electric bill went up from $300’s to over $600 a month, we’re not even into hot weather yet!! It’s only myself and one child on a fixed income and I called FPL to check it out, they promised to start an investigation within three business days! Still waiting for that! Obviously there’s something majorly wrong going on! I hope it gets resolved…!

  11. terry on March 26th, 2022 2:08 pm

    Living on budget billing, what a joke. eversense FPL has taken over my bill has increased. SEEMS like everytime FPL GOES FOR A RATE HIKE they get it, can anybody SAY NO. GOVERNMENT lawmakers need to look into this, if they dont hve competion seems they do what they want. LOOK at their upper management salaries, you would be surprised.

  12. terry on March 26th, 2022 12:32 pm

    Everytime fpl wants an increase in rates ,ive never seen where the answer is no.EVER SENSE FPL has taken over ,my powerbill has increased every month. THEY need some competition this would make them more honest. BUDGET BILLING IS A JOKE,

  13. Charlotte R Bates on March 26th, 2022 10:34 am

    I live on a fix income, and when my power bill went from three hundred a month to seven hundred a month, how in hell can I feed my family, buy my meds, and so forth. There are elderly people out there that CAN NOT afford that, cause they make far less then I do. I know one thing. I can live without power. I can get a wood stove for my heat, open all my windows during the Summer, and have lanterns for light, and read books to keep me amused. There is something fishy about this, and I also smell a rat. Everything keeps going up, except my fixed income, that I worked for. This really makes me so mad. Because I feel so sorry for the poor, the elderly that can’t afford to pay that kind of money, and I would bet if even half the people would either stop paying their bill and learn to live like a pioneer, their rates would drop like a lead balloon.

  14. FPL Stinks! on March 26th, 2022 9:31 am

    Collusion, greed, politicians…and the people formerly getting their electricity from Gulf Power suffer. This is unacceptable and I’m grateful to all who are attempting to do something about the unbelievable rate hike FPL has brought on their clients. I’m looking ahead to July and August, the hot summer months, with the AC running most of the day and wonder how we’ll be able to afford the astronomical power bills then. Please, take these two entities, FPL and the PSC, to task for such a crime against the everyday American. It’s just wrong!

  15. Swampfox on March 26th, 2022 8:56 am

    Might wanna google whos on the Florida Public Service Commission and their backgrounds and who appointed them. ! Kinda interesting knowledge. Looks like they’re really the approvers of increases of rates ! Next , it’s pretty clear that adding lots of Solar is a big PLUS and should water down our rates over time as well as less polution to the environment! Politics ain’t a likeable deal in most anything but it’s how we currently operate! No air conditioning for a summer might cut Florida’s population by 80 % like back in the 1950’s . I was here then but very thin and tanned and poor
    ( compared to nowadays)

  16. fixed income on March 26th, 2022 8:44 am

    NEED TO CUT THE PROFIT MARGIN DOWN SOME.

    WHY DO THEY NEED TO ADVERTIZE ON TV???? NOT LIKE WE CAN GO TO ANOTHER COMPANY, AND THE THOUSANDS DONATED TO DIFFERANT ORGANIZATION, THAT COULD GO BACK TO THE CUSTOMERS.

  17. Olin Schultz on March 26th, 2022 8:15 am

    What I can’t get by is all these new solar farms that are supposed to be efficient and cost less to the customers. Cleaner is not cheaper! We are paying the for the CEO to go on a year long vacation. It’s a Cinderella story. They get deep pockets and we. The customer, work like dogs to make ends meet! They need to be held accountable!

  18. Lindi Lathrop on March 26th, 2022 8:01 am

    Terry Knowles, I have said this from the get-go. I find myself speechless to know the people we are paying to make decisions for Florida as a whole would even do a thing to us! Unbelievable!!!

  19. tg on March 26th, 2022 7:54 am

    Wishing we were in the half of Florida FPL didnt serve.

  20. Jed on March 26th, 2022 7:20 am

    Power was a lot cheaper when that sign said “Plant Crist” and they burned coal!

  21. Terry Knowles on March 26th, 2022 7:09 am

    What kind of logic says…‘ buy a company, spend a couple billion and make somebody else pay for the investment?’ It smacks of a prearranged agreement!!!! In what reasonable society can a company require its customers to pay for their investments? It is mind boggling and reeks of collusion at the highest level.

  22. Underhill Douglas on March 26th, 2022 4:56 am

    Not really accurate reporting. Jeff was pretty liquored up about writing the letter, but like usual he had done very little homework and wasn’t really ready wirh facts and data. So far, every complaint I have looked at (including my own bill) shows a significant increase in usage in January and February.
    Jeff, as usual, is just trying to play the popular role instead of focusing on the issue