TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Electric (TECO) announced on Wednesday that it intends to reduce bills next year after reports of high summer bills due to record-setting temperatures across the Tampa Bay area.
"After record-high temperatures have driven up bills this summer, we are pleased that Tampa Electric customers will soon get some welcome relief,” said Archie Collins, president and CEO of Tampa Electric. "Fuel costs have declined since the high prices of 2022, and, as a result, we are expecting lower electricity bills in 2024.”
The company filed projected costs for 2024 for fuel, storm costs, and new solar plants with the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) on Wednesday.
If the PSC approves the filed requests, the average customer’s monthly bill will decrease by about 11%. Commercial and industrial customers would see a decrease between 10% and 18%.
For a customer who uses 1,000-kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity, their monthly bill would drop by $17.65 to $143.48. That monthly cost would be lower than the $146.72 that customers were paying before TECO increased bills in April.
Those rates would be well below the national average and among the lowest in Florida.
The PSC will vote on the requests in a hearing that begins Nov. 1. If approved, the reduction would start in January 2024.
