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TECO to move forward with price increases after Hurricane Milton

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Published  October 23, 2024 5:26pm EDT
Tampa
FOX 13 News

TECO's proposed rate hikes face pushback

FOX 13's Evan Axelbank reports on TECO's proposed rate hikes facing pushback from Tampans.

TAMPA, Fla. - Tampa Electric (TECO) is facing new criticism of its plan to raise rates two weeks after it began restoring power to hundreds of thousands of customers after Hurricane Milton          

The latest proposal would see rates increase by more than 20 percent over the next three years. 

Consumer advocates are crying foul in new court filings. 

READ MORE: Florida residents planning to sell homes, leave the state after hurricane season: 'We're done'

During Hurricane Milton, Paul Paduano's power didn't go out, but his problems with TECO go back a few years. 

The streetlights in his Apollo Beach neighborhood are hit-and-miss. 

"They're not there for aesthetics. They're also there for safety," Paduano said.

He wrote an email to the public service commission, hoping to convince them not to adopt TECO's requests to raise rates on typical consumers from 136 dollars a month to 165 dollars a month by 2027. 

TECO workers at a staging area in Tampa.

TECO workers at a staging area in Tampa.

TECO said it needs the increases to pay for new solar projects and a company headquarters, improve shareholder return, and automate responses to some outages. 

"My pay is not keeping up with the inflation and all the increases," Paduano said. "And I'm the sole income earner for my household." 

READ MORE: TECO, Duke customers can weigh in on proposed rate increases in series of meetings

In filings this week, lawyers advocating for people like Paduano said TECO's push to raise 445 million dollars over three years is unfair because TECO's parent company, Emera, of Nova Scotia, is relying on TECO customers for 54 percent of its revenue though its 840,000 customers are only 34 percent of its customer base. 

The Sierra Club also says TECO inflated its needs threefold and that it could save money by weaning off coal. 

"We're not taking issue with every aspect of its cost allocation," said Sari Amiel of the Sierra Club, "but this specifically is a really glaring issue that we think TECO can and should address." 

READ MORE: Groups pushing back against TECO rate hike proposal: 'Corporate greed, not corporate need'

The Sierra Club says TECO customers pay the third-highest bills in the nation and that the PSC should not rubber-stamp the new request.

But TECO says this isn't a reflexive increase. They have dropped costs twice this year, by about 25 dollars per month. 

TECO's CEO, Archie Collins, said last week that investments have been efficient. 

"The strength of this grid relative to other electrical grids that I have worked with in my 35-year career. This is a strong grid." 

Florida's public council warns that a new storm surcharge could be added to the requested rate hike if history is any guide.              

The decision by the PSC will be made at the end of this year.


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