ORLANDO, Fla. — The Florida Public Service Commission formally approved Duke Energy Florida’s proposed energy rate agreement Wednesday.
What You Need To Know
- Duke Energy received approval to raise its base electricity rates by an average annual increase of 2% from 2025 through 2027
- While the increase is projected to be an average of 2% per year, the first year will be significantly higher, with an estimated $203 million in additional revenue in 2025, compared to $59 million in 2026
- Duke Energy has asked for increase rates to be effective in January 2025, but the company says that the average customer will see a decrease in their bill
Immediately, Duke Energy says that customers can expect savings of around $8.26 (around 5%) if they use 1,000 kilowatt-hours in a month beginning in January 2025.
Over time, rates are expected to increase by as much as 2% over the next three years. Duke Energy said that some storm restoration costs will be gone by the end of 2024, and that will contribute to lower customer bills in 2025 as well.
While the average for the three years is projected to be no more than 2%, based on the company's numbers, the initial increase will be much larger, with Duke expecting an increase of base rate revenue of $203 million in 2025, but only $59 million in 2026.
The company also expects additional rate increases to be implemented in connection with 12 new solar facilities "as they come on-line," which will result in income of $12 million, $71 million and $58 million in 2025, 2026, and 2027, respectively.
In all, data from Duke shows the company expects to see additional revenue totaling more than $400 million between 2025 and 2027 due to the base rate increases.
Despite that, the company says that savings in other areas — which includes contracts expiring at the end of 2024 for 2022 fuel under-recovery, storm restoration cost recovery and legacy purchased power — should cause the average customer to actually see a 5% decrease in their January 2025 bill compared to their December 2024 one.
While the company said it expected customers to generally pay less in 2025, Duke did not say specifically that the 5% savings would carry through every month for the entire three-year agreement — only that customers' January bill would be less than December's.
According to Duke, the planned increases will allow the company to: “Continue making investments to reduce outages, shorten response times, meet future energy demands, increase clean, solar generation and explore innovative technologies.”
“We appreciate the Florida Public Service Commission’s review, along with the collaboration of the consumer representatives and business groups, to reach this productive outcome,” said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president. “Approval of this agreement will make a difference for our customers and communities we serve. We’ll continue to pass on savings directly to customers, while also increasing service reliability and advancing the clean energy vision for the state.”