TAMPA, Fla. — During public comment at an April 5 meeting, the Hillsborough County Commission got an earful from concerned TECO customers who shared worries about recent rate increases.
"I'm here today because our electricity bills keep going up," said a woman during public comment.
"I'm coming to you today to ask for your help," said a man.
They also voiced concerns about not having access to the meetings where those increases are decided.
"The customers who paid the bill should have access to the hearing," said a TECO customer.
"Tallahassee is too far!" said another man.
Right now, most of those meetings are held in the state capital with representatives of the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) which oversees utility rates in our state.
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But folks like Brooke Ward with the non-profit Food and Water Watch said they want to see those meetings happen locally, so they'll have a chance to weigh-in in person.
"An email, a written letter that does make a difference, but nothing is as impactful as or as effective as when people are able to come together as a community to lift their voices up and let their concerns be known," she said.
And the county commission agreed.
"The audience this morning raised an important point about what we might be able to do," said Hillsborough County Commissioner Pat Kemp.
On Tuesday, the commission sent a letter to the PSC asking for local meetings to be held when TECO makes any request that may result in a rate increase. It's a move that Ward and her group are praising though they also said they'd like to see the commission take things a step further.
FPSC Local Meeting Request Letter Signed 4-11-23 by ABC Action News on Scribd
"And what we hope to see next is that the county intervenes further in the PSC or Public Service Commission proceedings and that they can do everything in their power to make sure that energy utilities are making rate-lowering decisions like phasing out costly fossil fuels, bettering efficiency standards, and investing in resiliency projects that are meant to protect our pocketbooks and the environment," said Ward.
We also reached out to TECO for more information about these local meetings. The company told us that they offer local opportunities for public comment when asking to set the overall utility rate, which can happen once every few years.
More recently, they asked to adjust rates to make up for rising natural gas prices and to make up for money lost during hurricane season—and those meetings were held exclusively in Tallahassee.
