Staff from the Florida Public Service Commission have recommended approving proposals that would increase monthly bills by about $21 for Duke Energy customers and $30 for Tampa Electric Co. (TECO) customers starting in March.

Next week, Florida utility regulators could vote to allow Duke Energy Florida and Tampa Electric Co. to recover over $1.55 billion from customers for expenses related to hurricanes and to replenish storm reserves. The commission is set to make its decision on February 4.

The recommendations involve covering costs from the preparation and aftermath of Hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton from last year. Both utilities are also seeking funds for storm reserve accounts and interest costs, with Tampa Electric additionally looking to recover costs from Hurricane Idalia in 2023.

According to the staff recommendations, Duke would collect approximately $1.09 billion, while Tampa Electric aims to recover $463.6 million.

Utilities often use a baseline of residential customers consuming 1,000 kilowatt hours monthly for cost assessments, although actual usage can vary. For Duke customers, this would mean an additional $31.18 per month, though Duke anticipates a net increase of around $21 due to offsets from other cost reductions. For TECO customers, the increase would be $30.04 for the same usage.

The PSC staff also considered extending the cost recovery period to 22 months, which would reduce the monthly increase for Tampa Electric customers to $16.33, but this would also increase overall costs due to higher interest expenses.

Historically, the commission has approved such recovery requests, as seen with a recent approval on December 3 for Florida Power & Light to recover about $1.2 billion for similar storm-related costs.

If approved, Duke and Tampa Electric would begin collecting these charges in March, but they would need to substantiate all related expenses, refunding any over-collected amounts.

Notably, PCS Phosphate and Nucor Steel Florida have filed to intervene in Duke’s case, questioning the prudence and appropriateness of the costs Duke is seeking to recover, particularly highlighting the need for Duke to prove these costs were incurred wisely.

Duke and TECO reported their largest expenses from Hurricane Milton, which hit Sarasota County in October before moving across Florida. Duke attributed $769.7 million of its costs to Milton, while Tampa Electric’s proposal includes $358.9 million from the same storm.

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(Image credit: Steve Newborn/WUSF)