Duke Energy Florida gets approval to lower its rates

Published on December 07, 2023 by Dave Kovaleski

The Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC) approved Duke Energy’s request to lower its rates starting in January 2024.

With the approval, a typical residential customer using 1,000 kWh will see a decrease in their January 2024 bill of $11.29, or about 6 percent, when compared to December 2023. Also, commercial and industrial customers will see a bill decrease between 5.6 percent and 7.2 percent, but the specific bill impact will vary depending on several factors.

The bill reduction stems from storm recovery costs along with lower fuel and capacity costs for 2024.

“By combining Hurricane Idalia costs with the remaining balance of prior storms and previously filed bill reductions like lower fuel costs, we are able to provide some much-needed bill relief to our customers,” Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president. “We will continue to take steps to provide the best possible price for our customers, while delivering the reliable, cleaner energy customers deserve.”

According to the Florida PSC, Duke Energy Florida’s (DEF) amended storm recovery amount is $166.1 million. The costs are associated with Hurricanes Elsa, Eta, Ian, Isaias, and Nicole, along with Tropical Storm Fred and Hurricane Idalia.

This amount includes $91.9 million related to Hurricane Idalia and $73.9 million in unrecovered costs for the other storms. An interim storm charge to recover costs for the storms was initially implemented from April 2023 through March 2024.

In September, DEF reduced its actual recovery costs for the Storms by $10.7 million. A PSC hearing to review DEF’s actual costs for the storms has been set for May 21-22, 2024.

Duke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, provides electricity to 1.9 million residential, commercial and industrial customers in Florida. The company encourages customers to take advantage of the numerous flexible billing and energy savings programs, including free home assessments, budget billing and usage alerts, to help them save energy and money.