FPL's typical residential bills will increase 5 cents a day or less
in January 2013
JUNO BEACH, Fla., Nov. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In
January 2013, typical 1,000-kWh
residential bills for customers of Florida
Power & Light Company will increase by 5 cents a day or less depending on the outcome of
Florida Public Service Commission proceedings. FPL's bills are
expected to remain the lowest of the state's 55 electric utilities
and well below the national average.
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This increase reflects new base rates, which are currently
pending PSC review, consistent with Florida law that permits rates
to be implemented subject to refund when additional time is
required to conclude a proceeding. The schedule for the PSC's final
action on FPL's rate filing was extended so the Commission could
first conduct the hearing and vote on FPL's settlement agreement.
In conjunction with the base rate increase, FPL is also
implementing other rate adjustments, including a substantial
reduction in the customer fuel charge. The result will be a net
increase for a typical residential customer of no more than
$1.50 per month beginning in
January.
In August, FPL reached a settlement agreement with the Florida
Industrial Power Users Group, South Florida Hospital &
Healthcare Association and Federal Executive Agencies. These groups
represent large business and governmental customers that employ
tens of thousands of Floridians. If the PSC approves the proposed
agreement in December, FPL will implement the rates outlined in
that proposal, which would eliminate the net increase on a typical
residential customer bill, holding residential bills flat in
January.
Because new rates will be effective in January 2013, FPL will initiate notice to
customers in December 2012. If the
PSC does not approve the settlement agreement in December, and
ultimately approves a base rate that is lower than the amount
implemented in January 2013,
customers would be refunded the difference, with interest.
In an informational filing made with the PSC today, FPL noted
that the company's ability to offset expenses through the use of
non-cash surplus depreciation is very limited in 2013 and will soon
expire. This would cause a significant, rapid deterioration in the
company's finances if new rates were not to be implemented in
January.
"We appreciate the PSC's diligent review of the proposed
settlement, which we believe reflects a thoughtful and fair
compromise with major customer groups that is in the public
interest and will benefit all FPL customers and the state of
Florida. If approved, the settlement agreement would support our
ability to continue to provide our customers with exceptional
reliability, award-winning customer service and the lowest electric
bills in the state for at least four more years," said FPL
President Eric Silagy.
The company's rate request, as originally filed March 19, 2012, addressed only rate requirements
arising in 2013. The proposed settlement agreement would help
secure low, stable bills for all FPL customers through 2016.
The PSC completed its in-depth evidentiary hearing in the case
on Nov. 20, 2012, and is scheduled to
vote on the proposed settlement agreement on Dec. 13, 2012. Following the vote, FPL will
publish the specific rates that will take effect in January 2013. A comparison of the potential
1,000-kWh residential bill impacts can be found in the chart below.
To calculate this comparison at other usage levels or for more
information, customers can visit www.FPL.com/answers.
FPL's
Typical Residential Customer Bill
|
1,000-kWh Residential
|
January
2012
|
January
2013
|
If
Settlement is
Not
Approved in December
|
If
Settlement is
Approved in December
|
Base
Rate
|
$43.26
|
$48.49
|
$47.36
|
Fuel &
Other Charges
|
$51.36
|
$47.58
|
$47.23
|
TOTAL
BILL
|
$94.62
|
$96.07
|
$94.59
|
January 2013 Net Bill
Change:
|
Increase of $1.45/month
(about
5 cents/day)
|
Flat
(decrease of $0.03/month)
|
*Fuel
& Other Charges" include FPL's filed projections for fuel,
capacity, environmental and conservation clause recovery, West
County Energy Center 3 recovery, the storm charge, base rate
increase for completed nuclear upgrades and state gross receipts
tax. All rates are subject to change. If settlement is not
approved, base rate increase would be implemented subject to
refund upon PSC's final determination in early 2013.
|
Florida Power & Light
Company
Florida Power & Light Company
is the largest electric utility in Florida and one of the largest rate-regulated
utilities in the United States.
FPL serves approximately 4.6 million customer accounts and is a
leading Florida employer with approximately 10,000 employees. The
company consistently outperforms national averages for service
reliability while its typical residential customer bills, based on
data available in December 2011, are
about 25 percent below the national average. A clean energy leader,
FPL has one of the lowest emissions profiles and one of the leading
energy efficiency programs among utilities nationwide. FPL is a
subsidiary of Juno Beach,
Fla.-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE). For more
information, visit www.FPL.com.
Cautionary Statements and Risk
Factors That May Affect Future Results
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are not
statements of historical facts, but instead represent the current
expectations of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NextEra Energy) and
Florida Power & Light Company
(FPL) regarding future operating results and other future events,
many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and
outside of NextEra Energy's and FPL's control. In some cases, you
can identify the forward-looking statements by words or phrases
such as "will," "will likely result," "expect," "anticipate,"
"believe," "intend," "plan," "seek," "aim," "potential,"
"projection," "forecast," "predict," "goals," "target," "outlook,"
"should," "would" or similar words or expressions. You should not
place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are
not a guarantee of future performance. The future results of
NextEra Energy and FPL are subject to risks and uncertainties that
could cause their actual results to differ materially from those
expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. These risks
and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following:
effects of extensive regulation of NextEra Energy's and FPL's
business operations; inability of NextEra Energy and FPL to recover
in a timely manner any significant amount of costs, a return on
certain assets or an appropriate return on capital through base
rates, cost recovery clauses, other regulatory mechanisms or
otherwise; impact of political, regulatory and economic factors on
regulatory decisions important to NextEra Energy and FPL; risks of
disallowance of cost recovery by FPL based on a finding of
imprudent use of derivative instruments; effect of any reductions
to or elimination of governmental incentives that support renewable
energy projects of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC and its affiliated
entities (NextEra Energy Resources); impact of new or revised laws,
regulations or interpretations or other regulatory initiatives on
NextEra Energy and FPL; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL of
potential regulatory action to broaden the scope of regulation of
OTC financial derivatives and to apply such regulation to NextEra
Energy and FPL; capital expenditures, increased cost of operations
and exposure to liabilities attributable to environmental laws and
regulations applicable to NextEra Energy and FPL; effects on
NextEra Energy and FPL of federal or state laws or regulations
mandating new or additional limits on the production of greenhouse
gas emissions; exposure of NextEra Energy and FPL to significant
and increasing compliance costs and substantial monetary penalties
and other sanctions as a result of extensive federal regulation of
their operations; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL of changes in
tax laws and in judgments and estimates used to determine
tax-related asset and liability amounts; impact on NextEra Energy
and FPL of adverse results of litigation; effect on NextEra Energy
and FPL of failure to proceed with projects under development or
inability to complete the construction of (or capital improvements
to) electric generation, transmission and distribution facilities,
gas infrastructure facilities or other facilities on schedule or
within budget; impact on development and operating activities of
NextEra Energy and FPL resulting from risks related to project
siting, financing, construction, permitting, governmental approvals
and the negotiation of project development agreements; risks
involved in the operation and maintenance of electric generation,
transmission and distribution facilities, gas infrastructure
facilities and other facilities; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL
of a lack of growth or slower growth in the number of customers or
in customer usage; impact on NextEra Energy and FPL of severe
weather and other weather conditions; risks associated with threats
of terrorism and catastrophic events that could result from
terrorism, cyber attacks or other attempts to disrupt NextEra
Energy's and FPL's business or the businesses of third parties;
risk of lack of availability of adequate insurance coverage for
protection of NextEra Energy and FPL against significant losses;
risk to NextEra Energy Resources of increased operating costs
resulting from unfavorable supply costs necessary to provide
NextEra Energy Resources' full energy and capacity requirement
services; inability or failure by NextEra Energy Resources to hedge
effectively its assets or positions against changes in commodity
prices, volumes, interest rates, counterparty credit risk or other
risk measures; potential volatility of NextEra Energy's results of
operations caused by sales of power on the spot market or on a
short-term contractual basis; effect of reductions in the liquidity
of energy markets on NextEra Energy's ability to manage operational
risks; effectiveness of NextEra Energy's and FPL's hedging and
trading procedures and associated risk management tools to protect
against significant losses; impact of unavailability or disruption
of power transmission or commodity transportation facilities on
sale and delivery of power or natural gas by FPL and NextEra Energy
Resources; exposure of NextEra Energy and FPL to credit and
performance risk from customers, hedging counterparties and
vendors; risks to NextEra Energy and FPL of failure of
counterparties to perform under derivative contracts or of
requirement for NextEra Energy and FPL to post margin cash
collateral under derivative contracts; failure or breach of NextEra
Energy's and FPL's information technology systems; risks to NextEra
Energy and FPL's retail businesses of compromise of sensitive
customer data; risks to NextEra Energy and FPL of volatility in the
market values of derivative instruments and limited liquidity in
OTC markets; impact of negative publicity; inability of NextEra
Energy and FPL to maintain, negotiate or renegotiate acceptable
franchise agreements with municipalities and counties in
Florida; increasing costs of
health care plans; lack of a qualified workforce or the loss or
retirement of key employees; occurrence of work strikes or
stoppages and increasing personnel costs; NextEra Energy's ability
to successfully identify, complete and integrate acquisitions;
environmental, health and financial risks associated with NextEra
Energy's and FPL's ownership of nuclear generation facilities;
liability of NextEra Energy and FPL for significant retrospective
assessments and/or retrospective insurance premiums in the event of
an incident at certain nuclear generation facilities; increased
operating and capital expenditures at nuclear generation facilities
of NextEra Energy or FPL resulting from orders or new regulations
of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; inability to operate any of
NextEra Energy Resources' or FPL's owned nuclear generation units
through the end of their respective operating licenses; liability
of NextEra Energy and FPL for increased nuclear licensing or
compliance costs resulting from hazards posed to their owned
nuclear generation facilities; risks associated with outages of
NextEra Energy's and FPL's owned nuclear units; effect of
disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital
markets on NextEra Energy's and FPL's ability to fund their
liquidity and capital needs and meet their growth objectives;
inability of NextEra Energy, FPL and NextEra Energy Capital
Holdings, Inc. to maintain their current credit ratings; risk of
impairment of NextEra Energy's and FPL's liquidity from inability
of creditors to fund their credit commitments or to maintain their
current credit ratings; poor market performance and other economic
factors that could affect NextEra Energy's and FPL's defined
benefit pension plan's funded status; poor market performance and
other risks to the asset values of NextEra Energy's and FPL's
nuclear decommissioning funds; changes in market value and other
risks to certain of NextEra Energy's investments; effect of
inability of NextEra Energy subsidiaries to upstream dividends or
repay funds to NextEra Energy or of NextEra Energy's performance
under guarantees of subsidiary obligations on NextEra Energy's
ability to meet its financial obligations and to pay dividends on
its common stock; and effect of disruptions, uncertainty or
volatility in the credit and capital markets of the market price of
NextEra Energy's common stock. NextEra Energy and FPL discuss these
and other risks and uncertainties in their annual report on Form
10-K for the year ended December 31,
2011 and other SEC filings, and this press release should be
read in conjunction with such SEC filings made through the date of
this press release. The forward-looking statements made in this
press release are made only as of the date of this press release
and NextEra Energy and FPL undertake no obligation to update any
forward-looking statements.
SOURCE Florida Power & Light
Company