JUNO
BEACH, Fla., March 1,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida
Power & Light Company today filed a plan to reduce
customer fuel charges by $379 million
beginning in May to partially offset proposed bill increases to pay
for last year's two hurricane restorations and high fuel
costs.
The proposal filed with the Florida Public Service Commission
would reduce the fuel charge on the typical 1,000-kWh residential
customer bill by $4.43 a month,
including taxes and fees, from May through December – reflecting a
second downward revision in projected natural gas costs for 2023
after last year's high levels.
"This is good news for customers," said Armando Pimentel, president and CEO of FPL. "We
recognize that sharp inflation is impacting our customers and that
every dollar counts which is why we are pleased to provide relief
to customers as fuel prices have moderated."
The PSC is considering proposals FPL submitted in January to
increase customer bills in April to recover $1.3 billion in incremental restoration costs
from Hurricanes Ian and Nicole and $2.1
billion to make up for higher-than-projected natural gas
costs in 2022.
To partially offset these proposed increases, FPL's January
filing also called for decreasing projected 2023 fuel charges by
$1 billion due to an expected drop in
natural gas prices below original projections. Today's proposal to
reduce fuel charges by $379 million
is in addition to the earlier $1
billion proposed reduction.
Energy independence generates customer savings
Even with the increase in natural gas prices in recent years,
natural gas remains far more cost-effective than fuel oil and coal
to generate electricity. FPL's decision in the early 2000s to seek
energy independence and modernize its generating fleet by moving
away from foreign oil and constructing ultra fuel-efficient clean
energy centers and leading America's largest solar expansion has
saved customers more than $14 billion while dramatically reducing
carbon emissions.
In fact, FPL's solar fleet – the largest in America – doesn't
use fuel at all to generate electricity, avoiding about $375
million in fuel costs in 2022 alone. FPL brought 13 solar energy
centers online so far this year and will add three more solar
plants in 2023 as part of plans to install 90,000 megawatts of
solar energy in Florida and massively expand battery storage over
the next two decades.
FPL offers energy-saving tips to
customers
With the bill increase proposed to take effect in April, FPL
is encouraging customers to take steps now to lower their bills by
monitoring energy use and making their homes more energy efficient.
For example:
- Depending on the season, customers should cool their home at
78° or warmer or heat their home at 68° or cooler. Each degree
customers lower or increase the temperature on their thermostat can
reduce their bill by 5% a month for heating or cooling costs.
Customers can clean the lint filter in their dryer before each load
to minimize drying time.
- Turn off ceiling fans and lights in unoccupied rooms.
- View daily, weekly and monthly energy use by using the FPL
Mobile App, which is available on the Apple App store, Google Play
or by texting "App" to MyFPL (69375).
- Customers can activate the free FPL Energy Manager tool to
monitor how their home is using energy and identify ways to
save.
- For more helpful tips, customers can visit
FPL.com/waystosave.
Florida Power & Light
Company
As America's largest electric utility, Florida Power & Light Company serves more
customers and sells more power than any other utility, providing
clean, affordable, reliable electricity to approximately 5.8
million accounts, or more than 12 million people. FPL operates one
of the cleanest power generation fleets in the U.S and in
2022 won the
ReliabilityOne® National Reliability Award for the
seventh time in the last eight years. The company was also
recognized in 2022 as one of the most trusted U.S. electric
utilities by Escalent for the ninth consecutive year. FPL is a
subsidiary of Juno Beach,
Florida-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), a clean
energy company widely recognized for its efforts in sustainability,
corporate responsibility, ethics and compliance, and
diversity. NextEra Energy is ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas
utilities industry in Fortune's 2022 list of "World's Most Admired
Companies" and recognized on Fortune's 2021 list of companies that
"Change the World." NextEra Energy is also the parent company of
NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated
entities, is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from
the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. For more
information about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites:
www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com,
www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.
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SOURCE Florida Power & Light
Company