Florida’s regulated electric monopolies have won nearly everything they have asked for in recent rate cases, and the state’s own consumer advocate is now taking the fight to the Florida Supreme Court.

A Record Increase, Approved by Consensus

Florida Power & Light asked regulators in February 2025 for a $9.819 billion increase and an 11.9 percent return on equity, well above the roughly 9.68 percent industry standard, according to reporting on the case. Days before hearings, FPL filed a settlement with a coalition of business groups. It cut the increase to $6.903 billion and set a 10.95 percent return on equity, still the highest among its peers.

The Florida Public Service Commission approved the four-year deal in November 2025. The commission says the settlement cut FPL’s initial request by about 39 percent. FPL says the typical 1,000-kilowatt-hour residential bill rises from $134.14 to $136.64 in 2026, and one report puts the cumulative rise at about $8 a month by 2029. The company also says a typical bill is lower than it was 20 years ago when adjusted for inflation.

The state’s Office of Public Counsel, which represents ratepayers, offered a competing proposal that would have limited the increase to about $5 billion. It argues that about a third of the first-year increase would go to profit because of the higher return on equity. The commission denied the Public Counsel’s request for reconsideration in April 2026, and the case now sits at the state Supreme Court.

Closer to Home, Tampa Electric

Tampa Electric, which serves about 844,000 customers, asked for $287.9 million in 2025. The commission approved nearly $185 million, followed by $86.6 million in 2026 and $9.1 million in 2027. 

The Public Counsel says the commission went beyond even its own staff. Staff recommended a 10.3 percent return on equity midpoint, but the commission approved 10.5 percent. In court, the Public Counsel argues the commission did not properly consider affordability. In a post-hearing filing, it also alleged that Tampa Electric and its parent company deferred planned capital spending from 2023 and 2024 into the test year. Tampa Electric and the commission are asking the court to reject the challenges and dispute that affordability was ignored. 

Reform Stalled in the Legislature

A Republican, Sen. Don Gaetz of Crestview, filed a bill to change how the commission works. SB 126 would have expanded the commission from five members to seven, added a certified public accountant and a chartered financial analyst, and required orders to explain their reasoning. The original version also would have capped allowable returns at the national average for comparable utilities, and a later version would have required settlement talks with the Public Counsel before a deal reached the commission. The bill died in an appropriations committee on March 13, 2026. 

The Bigger Question

Utilities like these are regulated monopolies with no competitors, so the commission stands in for the market. Five governor-appointed commissioners decide how much profit a monopoly may earn, and the ratepayers who fund it have little recourse beyond the courts. Much of the loudest criticism has come from advocacy groups such as Food & Water Watch, which describes its mission in terms of a livable climate. Those groups’ preferred fixes often carry their own costs. But the accountability questions, including returns above peer levels, settlements negotiated largely among large commercial customers, and a reform bill that never reached the floor, stand on the public record no matter who raises them.

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