- The hundreds of millions of dollars in savings are the
result of federal production tax credits on the large-scale solar
energy centers FPL is building throughout Florida.
- A one-time, $25 million refund
will take effect in the month of January
2023, while additional savings will be phased in from 2023
through 2025.
- FPL's 2022-2025 rate agreement includes a provision
accounting for changes to federal tax law, facilitating the quick
implementation of bill adjustments.
JUNO
BEACH, Fla., Sept. 23,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida
Power & Light Company today announced a plan to refund
its approximately 5.8 million customers nearly $400 million in savings resulting from the new
federal tax law. The savings are the result of a federal production
tax credit (PTC) for the development of solar energy centers, which
FPL continues to build across Florida as part of the nation's
largest solar expansion that today includes 50 operational
sites.
FPL solar energy centers that began serving customers in 2022
are retroactively eligible for the PTCs. To quickly provide these
savings to customers, FPL is planning a one-time, $25 million refund in the month of January 2023. Also starting next year and through
2025, the company plans to phase in nearly $360 million in additional federal tax savings
for future planned solar projects.
"We recognize that all Floridians are continuing to deal with
the challenges of record-high inflation and increased costs of
everyday goods and services," said FPL Chairman and CEO
Eric Silagy. "As we continue working
to operate even more efficiently to drive costs out of our
business, federal tax savings will begin to provide some relief to
customers next year as high natural gas prices continue to put
upward pressure on bills."
FPL's 2022-2025 rate agreement, which was unanimously approved
last year by state regulators and signed by the state's consumer
advocate and other organizations, includes a provision that
accounts for changes to federal tax law. This mechanism will
facilitate the quick implementation of bill adjustments over the
remainder of FPL's rate agreement.
Despite widespread support for the comprehensive rate agreement,
which ensures FPL customers pay by far the lowest rates among
utilities serving more than 75% of Floridians, some groups earlier
this year appealed the Florida Public Service Commission's final
order to the Florida Supreme Court.
"Ironically, these self-proclaimed advocacy groups are now
effectively asking Florida's highest court to tear up the very rate
agreement that will soon quickly enable customers to begin saving
hundreds of millions of dollars on their electric bills over the
next three years, including a multi-million-dollar lump sum refund
to start the new year," Silagy said.
2023 Bills
As a result of federal tax savings, FPL projects its typical
1,000-kWh residential customer bill to be $126.65 in January
2023, by far the lowest among Florida's investor-owned
utilities, which serve more than 75% of the state. The company
projects its typical 1,000-kWh residential customer bill in
Northwest Florida, which includes
a temporary hurricane surcharge for past Northwest Florida storms, to be $156.85. All bills would increase slightly in
February in the absence of the one-time refund due to an approved
base rate adjustment and higher expected fuel costs in 2023, but
still reflect lower base rates as a result of federal tax
savings.
FPL
|
|
Northwest
Florida
|
Original
January
2023
Estimate
|
→
|
New
January
2023
Estimate
|
→
|
February
2023
Estimate
|
|
Original
January
2023
Estimate
|
→
|
New
January
2023
Estimate
|
→
|
February
2023
Estimate
|
$130.23
|
$126.65
|
$129.59
|
|
$160.43
|
$156.85
|
$159.81
|
Note: Rates include a
regulatory assessment fee and gross receipts tax but do not include
utility taxes and/or franchise fees, which vary by area.
|
|
Note: Rates include
temporary hurricane surcharge as well as a regulatory assessment
fee and gross receipts tax, but do not include utility taxes and/or
franchise fees, which vary by area.
|
FPL's 2023 bill projections do not include higher-than-projected
fuel costs in 2022, which the company has paid but are not yet
reflected in bills. FPL does not profit from the fuel it purchases
to generate electricity at power plants; it passes those costs
directly to customers. The company continues to monitor the still
highly volatile fuel market to get a more accurate assessment of
actual costs for 2022, with the goal of easing the impact for
customers. FPL expects to file a mid-course fuel correction by the
end of this year or early next year, which will result in an
additional adjustment to rates in 2023.
Driving down costs while
supporting customers
While natural gas prices have increased sharply and the fuel
market remains volatile, FPL continues to improve the fuel
efficiency of its power plants and invest in low-cost renewable
energy that is reducing the fuel portion of customer bills. Since
2001, the modernization of FPL's power plant fleet has saved
customers more than $12 billion in
fuel the company did not need to buy, which equates to
approximately $4.50 per month, or
$55 per year, on the typical
1,000-kWh FPL residential customer bill. In fact, FPL's 50 solar
energy centers helped customers avoid more than $200 million in fuel costs in just the first
seven months of 2022 alone – which equates to roughly $3 per month on the typical 1,000-kWh FPL
residential customer bill.
FPL is committed to reducing and eventually eliminating the fuel
portion of customer bills, but it will take time. As natural gas
costs are increasingly expensive, unstable and hard to predict, the
company is working to reduce and, by no later than 2045, eliminate
natural gas from regular operations – and the fuel portion of
customer bills along with it.
FPL has long been committed to helping customers find new ways
to reduce their energy use, which is the best way to save on
electric bills. For energy savings tips that can lower residential
bills by around $30 a month during
the hottest months of the year, visit FPL.com/WaysToSave. Customers
struggling to pay their bill can call FPL's dedicated customer
service team who can work with them to identify payment
arrangements and available assistance at the local, state and
federal level.
Florida
Power & Light Company
As America's largest electric utility, Florida Power & Light Company serves more
customers and sells more power than any other utility, providing
clean, affordable, reliable electricity to approximately 5.8
million accounts, or more than 12 million people. FPL operates one
of the cleanest power generation fleets in the U.S. and in
2021 won the ReliabilityOne® National
Reliability Award for the sixth time in the last seven years. The
company received the top ranking in the southern U.S. among large
electric providers, according to J.D. Power's 2021 Electric Utility
Residential Customer Satisfaction StudySM and 2021 Electric Utility
Business Customer Satisfaction StudySM. The company was also
recognized in 2020 as one of the most trusted U.S. electric
utilities by Escalent for the seventh consecutive year. FPL is a
subsidiary of Juno Beach,
Florida-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), a clean
energy company widely recognized for its efforts in sustainability,
corporate responsibility, ethics and compliance, and diversity.
NextEra Energy is ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities
industry in Fortune's 2022 list of "World's Most Admired Companies"
and recognized on Fortune's 2021 list of companies that "Change the
World." NextEra Energy is also the parent company of NextEra Energy
Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is
the world's largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and
sun and a world leader in battery storage. For more information
about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites:
www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com,
www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.
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SOURCE Florida Power & Light
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