坦帕电 intends to significantly reduce bills next year.
"After record-high temperatures have driven up bills this summer, we are pleased that 坦帕电 customers will soon get some welcome relief,” said Archie Collins, president 和 CEO of 坦帕电. "Fuel costs have declined since the high prices of 2022, 和, 结果是, we are expecting lower electricity bills in 2024.”
The company today filed projected costs for 2024 for fuel, storm costs 和 new solar plants with the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC). If the PSC approves the requests as filed, the typical residential customer’s monthly bill would decrease by about 11 percent. Commercial 和 industrial customers would see a decrease between 10 percent 和 18 percent. Reductions can vary, depending on usage.
For a residential customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity, the monthly bill would drop by $17.65, to $143.48.
The PSC will vote on the requests in a hearing that begins Nov. 1, 和, if approved, the reduction would begin in January. 坦帕电 rates would be well below the national average 和 among the lowest in Florida.
Natural gas 和 other fuels are used in power plants to make electricity, 和 their costs are passed to customers with no markup or profit. The fuel charge makes up about one-quarter of a residential customer’s bill. The requested fuel costs are based on projected costs for 2024 和 actual costs from prior years.
坦帕电 deploys a variety of strategies to manage fuel costs, including optimizing the use of its generating fleet to use fuel as efficiently as possible 和 purchasing power from other companies, if it results in a lower cost for customers.
Even with an expected reduction, high summer bills remain a concern for many customers. To ease the strain of high energy bills, 坦帕电 has:
- Created a dedicated Customer Assistance team to connect eligible customers with financial assistance 和 to ensure they get the help they need.
- Donated $1 million to the 分享 program, which helps qualified customers pay utility bills.
- Streamlined the application for certain financial assistance programs 和 reduced paperwork.
- Worked with thous和s of customers to provide extended payment arrangements 和 waive certain fees.
- Reduced fuel costs by $169 million since 2018 because of our investment in clean, renewable solar power.
“We urge customers to continue energy-saving measures because high temperatures will continue for the next few months,柯林斯说. “As temperatures start to decline, so should energy bills.”
To learn more about high summer bills 和 how customers can reduce energy use, customers should visit TampaElectric.com/highsummerbills. Additional savings are available through 坦帕电’s numerous energy-saving programs. Customers can learn more 和 sign up at TampaElectric.com/save (住宅)和 TampaElectric.com/bizsave (业务). A variety of appliance calculators also are available online to help customers pinpoint opportunities for savings.
坦帕电, one of Florida’s largest investor-owned electric utilities, 服务超过830人,000 customers in West Central Florida. 坦帕电 is a subsidiary of Emera Inc., a geographically diverse energy 和 services company headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
