JUNO BEACH, Fla., Oct. 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --The Florida Public
Service Commission (PSC) today approved Florida Power & Light Company's (FPL) 2015
rates for fuel and other electric service costs, helping ensure a
net decrease in customer bills. FPL estimates that the typical
residential customer bill will be reduced by about $2 per month beginning in January 2015.
"While so many other essential products and services are rising
in price, the cost of electric service for FPL customers is going
down," said Eric Silagy, president
and chief executive officer of FPL. "We are constantly looking for
ways to deliver value to our customers, and we are proud that we
can offer our customers lower bills."
Residential customers
Today, FPL's typical 1,000-kWh
residential customer bill is about 7 percent lower than it was in
2009. With the PSC's approval today, FPL's typical bill will
decrease by nearly $2 a month more in
2015, compared with current rates.
That decrease is based on a typical, 1,000-kWh residential bill.
Customers can estimate their monthly savings by inputting their
monthly usage into FPL's low-bill calculator at
FPL.com/lowerbills.
FPL's typical bill continues to be approximately 25 percent
lower than the national average and the lowest of all utilities in
Florida. FPL's typical residential
customer paid about $350 less for
power last year than Floridians served by other electric
utilities.
The 2015 rate changes are based on the company's projections for
the cost of fuel to generate power and other components of a
customer's electric bill.
Business customers
Business customers will also see a
decrease of roughly 1 percent next year, depending on rate class
and type of service.
"Looking back over the past five years, my businesses are using
about 8 percent more energy, but my FPL bills are actually down
nearly 11 percent," said Bill
Watson, owner of several restaurants in South Florida, including Rocco's Tacos and
City Cellar. "As a business owner, there are so many costs that are
going up that I can't control, so it's encouraging to see how much
I'm saving on electricity."
FPL's bill reductions, combined with Miami-Dade County Public Schools' efforts to
use energy more efficiently, have amounted to more than
$39 million in savings for the school
district over the past five years.
"Those are savings, that during the economic recession, allowed
us to reinvest right back into our classrooms by providing teachers
job protection and our students additional educational resources to
enhance their learning experience," said Superintendent of Schools
Alberto M. Carvalho.
FPL's investments
FPL's smart, long-term investments
are paying off for customers, not only with enhanced service
reliability and cleaner power, but also lower bills. The company's
efforts to convert old, oil-fired power plants to modern energy
centers that run on clean, U.S.-produced natural gas have reduced
FPL's use of foreign oil by 99 percent since 2001. Additionally, by
modernizing the generation fleet and being more fuel efficient, FPL
has saved customers $6.8 billion to
date.
FPL's clean energy center in Port Everglades, scheduled to begin
operation in mid-2016, will join the company's modernized fleet in
Cape Canaveral and Riviera Beach. These highly efficient energy
centers produce electricity using a third less fuel and 90 percent
fewer emissions than the plants they replace.
To download high-resolution B-roll and an interview with
FPL President and CEO Eric Silagy,
visit www.FPL.com/newsroom
Florida Power & Light
Company
Florida Power &
Light Company is the third-largest electric
utility in the United States, serving
approximately 4.7 million customer accounts across nearly
half of the state of Florida. As of year-end
2013, FPL's typical 1,000-kWh
residential customer bill is approximately
25 percent lower than the national
average and the lowest in Florida among reporting
utilities. FPL's service reliability is
better than 99.98 percent, and its highly fuel-efficient
power plant fleet is one of the cleanest among
utilities nationwide. The company was recognized in 2014
as the most trusted U.S. electric utility by Market Strategies
International, and has earned the
national ServiceOne Award for outstanding customer
service for an unprecedented 10 consecutive years. A leading
Florida employer with approximately 8,900 employees, FPL is a
subsidiary of Juno Beach,
Fla.-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE). For more
information, visit www.FPL.com.
Logo -
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120301/FL62738LOGO
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141022/153794-INFO
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/florida-public-service-commission-approves-fpls-request-to-reduce-2015-electric-rates-907349602.html
SOURCE Florida Power & Light
Company