The Florida Public Service Commission on Dec. 3 approved a base-rate increase of $184.9 million to take effect Jan. 1, with additional increases expected in 2026 and 2027. The commission will take up the issue again Thursday, after Tampa Electric filed revised information, including about how the changes would affect customer bills.
Utilities typically point to a benchmark of residential customers who use 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month, though actual use varies widely.
A commission staff report issued Friday said that, under the plan, such residential customers would see their overall monthly electric bills increase from $136.44 to $145.58 in January.
Meanwhile, Tampa Electric said in a news release this week that rates for small commercial customers would decrease by 3 percent, while medium and large commercial and industrial customers would see increases of 9 to 14 percent.
“After this lengthy process, we are pleased to offer customers some certainty,” Archie Collins, president and chief executive officer of Tampa Electric, said in a statement included in the news release. “With one of the lowest rates in Florida, Tampa Electric is proud to serve you every day with rates that are also consistently below the national average — while providing outstanding value to our customers.”
Base rates make up a major part of customers’ monthly electric bills, and rate cases play out over months and involve voluminous amounts of information.
Tampa Electric requested that the Public Service Commission approve a $287.9 million increase in 2025, followed by increases of about $92.4 million in 2026 and $65.5 million in 2027.
Friday’s staff report, which makes recommendations for handling remaining issues in the case, said the commission approved a $184.9 million increase for 2025, followed by increases of $86.6 million in 2026 and $9.1 million in 2027. The commission held a detailed hearing in August before making decisions Dec. 3.
The rate increases have been controversial, with the state Office of Public Counsel, which represents consumers, saying in an October brief that Tampa Electric “presented a vastly overstated request for rate relief.”
As an example of the disputed issues, the Office of Public Counsel and other representatives of customers fought a request by Tampa Electric for approval of a targeted return on equity of 11.5 percent. Return on equity is a closely watched measure of profitability.
The Office of Public Counsel argued that the targeted return on equity should be 9.5 percent. On Dec. 3, the Public Service Commission approved 10.5 percent.
Tampa Electric has about 844,000 customers in Hillsborough, Polk, Pasco and Pinellas counties.
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This article appears in Dec 12-18, 2024.