Florida Public Service Commission approves FPL's request to reduce 2015 electric rates

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Typical FPL residential customer bill will decrease by about $2 a month

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Oct 22, 2014, 03:26 ET

JUNO BEACH, Fla., Oct. 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) today approved Florida Power & Light Company's (FPL) 2015 rates for fuel and other electric service costs, helping ensure a net decrease in customer bills. FPL estimates that the typical residential customer bill will be reduced by about $2 per month beginning in January 2015.

Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) estimates that the typical residential customer bill will be reduced by about $2 per month beginning in January 2015.

"While so many other essential products and services are rising in price, the cost of electric service for FPL customers is going down," said Eric Silagy, president and chief executive officer of FPL. "We are constantly looking for ways to deliver value to our customers, and we are proud that we can offer our customers lower bills."

Residential customers
Today, FPL's typical 1,000-kWh residential customer bill is about 7 percent lower than it was in 2009. With the PSC's approval today, FPL's typical bill will decrease by nearly $2 a month more in 2015, compared with current rates.

That decrease is based on a typical, 1,000-kWh residential bill. Customers can estimate their monthly savings by inputting their monthly usage into FPL's low-bill calculator at FPL.com/lowerbills.

FPL's typical bill continues to be approximately 25 percent lower than the national average and the lowest of all utilities in Florida. FPL's typical residential customer paid about $350 less for power last year than Floridians served by other electric utilities.

The 2015 rate changes are based on the company's projections for the cost of fuel to generate power and other components of a customer's electric bill.

Business customers
Business customers will also see a decrease of roughly 1 percent next year, depending on rate class and type of service.

"Looking back over the past five years, my businesses are using about 8 percent more energy, but my FPL bills are actually down nearly 11 percent," said Bill Watson, owner of several restaurants in South Florida, including Rocco's Tacos and City Cellar. "As a business owner, there are so many costs that are going up that I can't control, so it's encouraging to see how much I'm saving on electricity."

FPL's bill reductions, combined with Miami-Dade County Public Schools' efforts to use energy more efficiently, have amounted to more than $39 million in savings for the school district over the past five years.

"Those are savings, that during the economic recession, allowed us to reinvest right back into our classrooms by providing teachers job protection and our students additional educational resources to enhance their learning experience," said Superintendent of Schools Alberto M. Carvalho.

FPL's investments
FPL's smart, long-term investments are paying off for customers, not only with enhanced service reliability and cleaner power, but also lower bills. The company's efforts to convert old, oil-fired power plants to modern energy centers that run on clean, U.S.-produced natural gas have reduced FPL's use of foreign oil by 99 percent since 2001. Additionally, by modernizing the generation fleet and being more fuel efficient, FPL has saved customers $6.8 billion to date.

FPL's clean energy center in Port Everglades, scheduled to begin operation in mid-2016, will join the company's modernized fleet in Cape Canaveral and Riviera Beach. These highly efficient energy centers produce electricity using a third less fuel and 90 percent fewer emissions than the plants they replace.

To download high-resolution B-roll and an interview with FPL President and CEO Eric Silagy, visit www.FPL.com/newsroom

Florida Power & Light Company
Florida Power & Light Company is the third-largest electric utility in the United States, serving approximately 4.7 million customer accounts across nearly half of the state of Florida. As of year-end 2013, FPL's typical 1,000-kWh residential customer bill is approximately 25 percent lower than the national average and the lowest in Florida among reporting utilities. FPL's service reliability is better than 99.98 percent, and its highly fuel-efficient power plant fleet is one of the cleanest among utilities nationwide. The company was recognized in 2014 as the most trusted U.S. electric utility by Market Strategies International, and has earned the national ServiceOne Award for outstanding customer service for an unprecedented 10 consecutive years. A leading Florida employer with approximately 8,900 employees, FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Fla.-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE). For more information, visit www.FPL.com.

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SOURCE Florida Power & Light Company