Nov 2, 2009 3:55 pm US/Eastern
FPL To Give Customers A New Year's Rebate
TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) ―
If you get your electricity from FPL, you may also be getting something else from them to celebrate the new year: a one time credit of about $50 on your electric bill, part of a $365 million refund ordered by the Florida Public Service commission Monday because the utility paid less for fuel than expected.
The one-time credit covers fuel costs for 2008 and 2009, according to t
he Florida Sun-Sentinel.
The utility had wanted to spread out the refund in a series of smaller payments over the course of a year, but at a hearing Monday on a request by FPL for billions in fuel surcharges, regulator fees and other expenses for 2010, commissioners approved a request to speed up the refund.
"The pro is you put money back in consumers' pockets faster", Commissioner Nathan Skop said.
The billions approved by regulators Monday are actually $2.4 billion less than the amount approved for 2009. The amounts must be approved by the state annually, and represent about half of the average monthly FPL bill. This year, the average customer using 1000 kilowatts of electricity will pay about 48.50 a month, versus $64 a month in 2009.
FPL has been criticized by some consumer advocates for not moving faster to cut fuel surcharges when their cost of fuel dropped considerably starting in mid 2008. By law, FPL is allowed to pass fuel costs on to consumers, but cannot profit by them.
"While today's action was outside the normal process for dealing with these variations, " said FPL spokesperson Mayco Vilafana in a statement e-mailed to CBS4.com, "we're happy to be able to help customers, particularly in these difficult times. Moreover, 2010 bills will be going down as a result of greater fuel efficiencies and lower fuel costs even with the full impact of our rate request."
FPL has previously requested a rate increase of $1.27 billion, but approval has not yet been granted.
The FPL refund should be seen in customers' January electric bills.
Some material for this report came from The Florida Sun Sentinel.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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