TAMPA — They came from homes where air conditioners sat silent, relief from the heat a luxury they can no longer afford. They came between shifts — cleaning houses, installing floors, pouring drinks — earning wages that no longer stretch as far as they need. They came exasperated, after shelling out for solar panels only to still feel the pinch of energy costs.
For hours in three different counties last week, Tampa Bay residents implored state utility regulators to say no to higher rates in their electric bills. These local, in-person hearings are so rare they haven’t happened for Duke Energy and Tampa Electric customers in more than a decade. Additional virtual hearings wrapped up Tuesday.
The Public Service Commission meetings offered a raw glimpse into a region where an affordable housing crisis, inflation and high electric costs collide. Dozens of residents told a governor-appointed commission how their families’ finances teetered. Higher electric bills, some warned, would mean skipping meals. One less birthday gift for their kids. More anxiety around insulin that must be kept cold.
Both Duke Energy and Tampa Electric Co. are seeking higher base rates — a major component of electric bills. The companies say the hikes, which would start next year, are needed to cover the costs of running their businesses, including adding more solar capacity. Together, the requests stand to impact more than 2.5 million Floridians.
Last year, the average Tampa Electric bill was the third highest in the nation compared to other utilities with more than 100,000 customers, according to a Tampa Bay Times analysis of federal data. The average bill for Duke Energy customers in Florida ranked fifth.
Both utilities are also seeking rates of profit that are higher than the national average. Lawyers for the Office of Public Counsel, which represents utility customers, called these potential margins “excessive” and “not reasonable.” The requested shareholder profit rates are also higher than what Duke Energy receives in other states, and higher than what another utility owned by Tampa Electric’s parent company receives in Canada, according to lawyers representing groups that oppose the hikes.
Marjorie Guevara, 29, brought a chemistry textbook to a hearing so she could cram in some studying while she waited her turn to address the commission. She finds minutes when she can, trying to prepare for the Medical College Admission Test between her two jobs that help support her working parents in Tampa.
She keeps pushing her test date back.
“I want to apply to medical school and the reason that I haven’t been able to is because I’m helping my parents pay their electric bill right now. I’m helping my parents pay their mortgage,” she told the commissioners. “We don’t deserve this as a community.”
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Explore all your optionsAn opaque process
At the Largo hearing, retired nurse Cindy Scheuermann listened to her neighbors rail against their Duke bills, feeling confused. She received a notice in her bill about the hearing, the first she’d heard of the Florida Public Service Commission.
Who were these five commissioners, and why were they qualified to impact the budgets of her entire neighborhood? After being told the commission couldn’t answer questions during the meeting, Scheuermann left — thinking about ways she might have to cut costs. Her thermostat is already set to 82. Dropping her property insurance could be next.
Despite its role determining how high electric rates should go, the utility commission remains obscure to most Floridians. (One meeting attendee thought he was addressing the Tampa City Council.) Rate cases are typically decided in Tallahassee by the commission, after the utilities and others file a mountain of paperwork filled with legal and technical jargon.
Duke Energy is asking for about $820 million more from its customers, while Tampa Electric is seeking a $468 million increase. Both would take place over the next three years. That means a residential Duke customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours would pay over $230 more per year when the hikes take full effect, according to a commission handout. Tampa Electric bills would rise more than $340.
Ana Gibbs, a spokesperson for Duke, said that even with the request to raise the base rates of the bills of its customers, the company expects overall bills to decrease next year. That’s because previously approved charges for things like storm recovery will expire.
“(Duke) works hard to provide the best possible price for our customers,” Gibbs said in an email. “These steps include delivering a diverse fuel mix, including solar for power generation, and managing fuel and generation resources in the most cost-effective manner for our customers.”
Cherie Jacobs, a spokesperson for Tampa Electric, said the company is ready to help customers who qualify for financial assistance.
“We know that for some of our customers, even a small change in their electric bills can be a hardship,” she said. “We work with our customers to provide payment arrangements, and we have more free programs to help them save energy than any other Florida utility. … The rates we are proposing will support long-term affordability, make our system more resilient and reliable, and ensure we meet the demands of our rapidly growing population.”
As the price of natural gas falls worldwide, both Duke and Tampa Electric have passed those savings on to customers. The companies are prohibited from profiting off the fuel, which they burn in power plants to create electricity. That’s brought some relief from historic highs a few years ago, when cost of the fuel spiked to historic levels.
Zayne Smith, director of advocacy for AARP, a nonprofit that serves Americans 50 and older and opposes the rate hikes, said the complexity of these cases leaves consumers at a disadvantage. The group has worked to educate people about how they could be impacted — and more than 15,000 have signed its petitions asking the commission to reject the companies’ requests.
As for the utilities’ arguments, there’s no guarantee fuel costs will stay low in this “volatile market,” Smith said.
And while some Duke charges will expire, both Duke and Tampa Electric are seeking increases in the minimum fees that customers pay regardless of how much energy they use. Smith said those hikes will mean Duke customers would pay a few dollars more each month over the next three years to reach about $45, while Tampa Electric customers would see their monthly minimum fees go to about $33 next year.
“If you’re trying to keep your bill below a certain number, you can reduce power in your home or get more efficient appliances,” she said. “When there’s a fixed customer charge, you can’t battle that.”
Diverse voices in agreement
Across spectrums of politics, incomes and housing types, the residents who spoke at the seven hearings were bound by common fears — and anger at what they saw as corporate greed.
Maria Miranda, who works at a plant nursery in Apopka, said in Spanish that she worries whether her $400 weekly wages could cover higher bills. Stephen Kauffman, a Lutheran pastor in Tampa, said his faith compelled him to speak for lower-income people. He attended a small protest before one of the hearings, holding a white sign that matched his clerical collar. David Harbeitner, a St. Petersburg investment adviser, rattled off financial figures to the commission showing why he believes Duke’s profits are too high.
Many were involved in local groups supporting seniors, labor rights or environmental causes.
In the Citrus County fairgrounds auditorium in Inverness, a nervous 16-year-old stepped to the microphone sporting an environmental advocacy Sierra Club T-shirt. When deciding Duke Energy’s future, Noa Adera wanted commissioners to remember the company’s power plant in Crystal River, where she attended school. It still burns coal.
“If we keep doing things that will negatively affect our environment, there won’t be anything left to protect it,” she said. Many residents asked the commission to force the utilities to transition to solar energy faster to mitigate climate change and save them money long term.
Almost everyone who spoke at the hearings opposed the rate hikes, though there were a few exceptions. One was William Davis of Plant City, who said he’d been “a TECO customer my entire adult life” and believed their “quality of service is excellent.”
Then an opposing lawyer had a question.
“Are you currently employed as the manager of ethics and compliance for TECO?” asked Bradley Marshall.
“I am not,” Davis replied. “I retired in January of ‘23.”
The Public Service Commission is expected to make final decisions in the Duke and Tampa Electric cases late this year, when it will issue a written final order in both cases.
Arlene Washington may not stick around that long. Even with her Section 8 housing voucher, the costs of her Tampa senior living apartment are more than she can bear. The 79-year-old doesn’t use her air conditioning at all, making sleep difficult. Still, Washington said her bill has gone up the past two years.
She retired to Florida after a career of working with special-needs students in Massachusetts. She’s planning to move to a cheaper state.
“I had to save a couple years to get here,” Washington said, “and then I get here, and I’m disappointed.”
Times staff writer Teghan Simonton contributed to this report.
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Across Florida, residents fear impact of higher Duke, Tampa Electric rates - Tampa Bay Times
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