Tampa Electric intends to significantly reduce bills next year.
"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 today filed projected costs for 2024 for fuel, storm costs and 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 and industrial customers would see a decrease between 10 percent and 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, and, if approved, the reduction would begin in January. Tampa Electric rates would be well below the national average and among the lowest in Florida.
Natural gas and other fuels are used in power plants to make electricity, and 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 and actual costs from prior years.
Tampa Electric deploys a variety of strategies to manage fuel costs, including optimizing the use of its generating fleet to use fuel as efficiently as possible and 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, Tampa Electric has:
- Created a dedicated Customer Assistance team to connect eligible customers with financial assistance and to ensure they get the help they need.
- Donated $1 million to the Share program, which helps qualified customers pay utility bills.
- Streamlined the application for certain financial assistance programs and reduced paperwork.
- Worked with thousands of customers to provide extended payment arrangements and 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,” Collins said. “As temperatures start to decline, so should energy bills.”
To learn more about high summer bills and how customers can reduce energy use, customers should visit TampaElectric.com/highsummerbills. Additional savings are available through Tampa Electric’s numerous energy-saving programs. Customers can learn more and sign up at TampaElectric.com/save (residential) and TampaElectric.com/bizsave (business). A variety of appliance calculators also are available online to help customers pinpoint opportunities for savings.
Tampa Electric, one of Florida’s largest investor-owned electric utilities, serves more than 830,000 customers in West Central Florida. Tampa Electric is a subsidiary of Emera Inc., a geographically diverse energy and services company headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
