Lighter wallets on the way

Saturday, November 12, 2005

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These power company workers aren't alone in being up high; so are electric bills.

An energy price hike is on the way for customers of Florida's three biggest utility providers, and one of the state's top watchdogs is not happy about it.

Customers of Progress Energy, Tampa Electric (TECO) and Florida Power and Light (FPL) will see their bills go up in the next few weeks.

The price hike comes as a bit of a surprise because a similar rate increase was recently rejected.

Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist called this week's decision by the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) to raise utility rates a "shocking financial blow."

Electric providers blame high electricity bills on fuel costs.

Crist has been fighting the utility companies for months. In August, Florida's electric providers asked for a rate increase to make up for money lost during the 2004 hurricane season.

Eventually, the PSC and the energy companies struck a deal so they wouldn't have to raise rates. But after this summer's soaring fuel costs, the companies exercised a statute that says they can raise rates customers pay for fuel.

Now Crist is pushing for a law to block utilities from recovering fuel costs from customers or force them to use profits to offset fuel prices.

This price hikes break down this way, starting in January:

Company	Percent increase	Typical current bill	Future bill
TECO	12 percent	$98	$110
Progress Energy	12 percent	$98	$110
FPL	19 percent	$91	$108

The utility companies say the price customers pay for fuel is a pass-through, so the companies don't profit from it. They place the blame for sky-high prices on the nation's oil companies.