JUNO BEACH, Fla. — If you are a Florida Power & Light customer, you could soon see a higher bill thanks to the recent hurricanes.
The state's largest power provider announced Tuesday they asked the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) to approve a temporary surcharge on customer bills in 2025.
FPL said the hike — which would be from January through December next year — would increase a typical 1,000-kWh residential customer bill by about $12 a month.
Four hurricanes have hit Florida in less than 14 months, and the utility said the surcharge is needed to recover restoration costs used after the storms.
"FPL worked relentlessly to quickly restore power to our customers in the aftermath of each of these hurricanes," FPL President and CEO Armando Pimentel said in a statement. "We're mindful that customers pay these restoration costs, which is why we continue to invest in storm hardening and smart grid technology. This avoids many outages, speeds restoration and reduces restoration costs while helping customers bounce back faster, from getting kids back to school to getting Florida's economy back up and running."
The petition filed with the PSC seeks to recover restoration expenses for Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton, which hit Florida this year.
It also seeks $150 million to replenish the company's storm reserve, which the utility said was primarily depleted by Hurricane Idalia in August 2023 and then wiped out after Hurricane Debby hit the Big Bend region in August. If approved, FPL said the temporary surcharge would reimburse the company about $1.2 billion.
"What this accounts for is the cost of us responding and restoring power safely and as quickly as possible for our customers following the storms," FPL spokesman Jack Eble told WPTV reporter Kendall Hyde.
Even with the temporary surcharge, FPL said customers' bills in 2025 will remain well below the national average.
Not everyone was happy to hear about the possibility of higher power bills.
"I mean, it doesn't sound fair. People are out of work, and they're not making money on those days," Palm Beach Gardens resident Anthony Sconzo said. "Now you're asking people to pay back electricity to FPL."
But others didn't seem to be too bothered by the news.
"I'm pretty confident since the utilities are regulated that they are overseen by other people to make sure they are spending their money wisely," Juno Beach resident John Washam said. "If they think they can benefit (from) this one-year surcharge, I'm OK with it."
FPL provides electricity to about 12 million people in Florida, making it America's largest electric utility.
