Customers may pay less in their bills if an FPL petition is approved

DORAL, FL – The Florida Public Service Commission is yet to approve a petition filed by FPL to reduce customer bills in May due to lower cost of natural gas. The fossil fuel energy source is determining for the company to fuel power plants, so when prices rise, the customer also pays more, whereas a drop in prices relieves their pockets. 

If the proposal, delivered on an April 2 meeting, is okayed by state regulators, customers would also benefit financially in April because of the end of charges coming from storm-related costs, which according to the reports had been planned earlier. 

Overall, customers could save about $662 million, of which $37 million would be aimed to sort out fuel costs from 2023, the filing said. 

“We are committed to providing reliable energy and keeping customer bills as low as possible,” FPL President and CEO Armando Pimentel said in a prepared statement as reported by CBS News. “While we are pleased with the possibility of back-to-back rate reductions, we also encourage customers to take advantage of tools and tips from our energy experts to help customers reduce their energy usage and make their bills even lower.”

It should be noted that what a customer is charged with in a bill depends on many things, although base rates and fuel costs influence the most. Other costs included can stem from expenses for environmental projects and temporary charges for storm recovery and preparation.

Utilities usually adopt a benchmark bill of residential customers who consume 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month, and FPL has two sets of rates as a result of a merger with the former Gulf Power.

According to the news report, the proposal filed by FPL seeks for the actual fuel costs to differ greatly from the projected fuel costs for the upcoming year that are approved each fall by the Public Service Commission. If that happens, utilities can seek what is known as a “mid-course correction”. 

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