Florida Power & Light wants to raise your electricity bill, and the public will have a chance to weigh in on Thursday, June 5.
The Florida Public Service Commission is holding a public hearing on the increase at Pensacola State College at 6 p.m. in the Hagler Auditorium, 1000 College Blvd., Building 2A. It’s the first time since COVID dissipated that a hearing on FPL’s base rates will be held in-person with the commission.
The meeting is one of seven being held across the state, with the last meeting schedule for June 6 in Panama City.
How much is FPL proposing to raise rates?
In February, Florida Power & Light submitted a four-year request to the Florida Public Service Commission that would raise rates in Northwest Florida by about $3.50 for residential customers in 2026 and go up each year until customers are paying about $8.39 a month more by 2029.
If approved, the rate hikes would begin at the end of this year and continue through 2029.
Residential customers can calculate how the proposal would affect their individual bills by using the calculator feature at FPL.com/answers.
AARP, which is fighting to keep power bills affordable for seniors and those on fixed incomes, breaks down FPL’s proposal like this:
Residential customer bills can expect the following monthly base rate increases using 1,000 kWh per month.
Region | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | Projected average bill increase in 2029 compared to current rates |
Peninsular Florida | +$8.23 | +$5.92 | +$1.64 | +$2.06 | +$17.85 |
Northwest Florida | +$3.50 | +$1.19 | +$8.39 |
20% increase of the residential monthly minimum base bill from its current level of $25 to $30 monthly for all residential customers. This is an additional increase in the amount customers must pay, even if their individual billing components are less than $30.
The rate case does not consider other costs passed on to customers, such fuel surcharge increases, nuclear cost recovery, environmental and energy charges, storm hardening and storm restoration recovery charges. The base rate increase is on top of all of these.
Why the need for a rate increase?
According to a press release, Florida Power & Light says the new rate plan is designed to meet the demands of the state’s growing population with reliable service and “low bills.”
FPL says that overall, even with the proposed rate adjustment, residential customer bills would remain “well below” the national average and below other Florida utilities.
When adjusted for inflation, the typical 1,000-kWh residential customer bill in January 2026 under FPL’s proposal would be about 20% lower than it was 20 years earlier, in 2006, according to FPL.
Company leaders say the rate hike is needed to meet the need of the state’s growing population, which is rising along with inflation, impacting the company’s costs on labor, fuel, and supplies like wire, cables, utility poles and transformers.
“At FPL, we’re focused on our customers every single day. The balanced plan we submitted to the PSC would enable FPL to continue to make smart investments in the grid and in new generation resources to benefit our customers and to power our fast-growing state,” FPL President and CEO Armando Pimentel said in a press release.
However, AARP says the company is prioritizing profits over people.
The non-profit organization points out that the company is also requesting up to 11.9% allowable profit or Return on Equity (ROE), which “far exceeds the national average of 9.5%.”
Under FPL’s proposed plan, customers in the Florida Peninsula would see higher rates than those in Northwest Florida, but beginning in 2027, FPL customers across the state will pay the same rates.
AARP says the result is that more than 12 million Florida residents face the “largest electric rate increase in U.S. history, with potentially steep hikes in their utility bills.”
AARP is encouraging those who oppose the rate hike to sign a petition asking the Florida Public Service Commission to reject FPL’s request and keep rates down.
Learn more about the proposed rate increase
You can read more about FPL’s proposed rate increase on their website, as well as AARP’s response on their website.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: FPL proposes rate hike, public meeting planned Thursday