County Commission Wants Energy Hearings Held In Tampa, Not Tallahassee

TAMPA, FL — The Hillsborough County Commission sent a letter to the Florida Public Service Commission this week requesting that the state hold local hearings to consider TECO's state-mandated 10-year plan for providing electricity to its 830,000 customers in West Central Florida.

TECO submitted its 10-year plan to the Florida Public Service Commission Friday showing a 1.4 percent increase in TECO's use of fracked gas over last year, which environmentalist say is responsible for rising energy costs.

The county commission's unanimous vote to send the Public Service Commission a letter came after numerous environmentalists and TECO customers attended a county commission meeting April 5, urging the commission to use its influence to convince the Public Service Commission to hold hearings in Hillsborough County.

Since January 2019, the average Tampa Electric bill has increased 62 percent, said Food & Water Watch senior Florida organizer Brooke Ward.

“For too long, Florida has rubber-stamped fossil-fueled rate increases. It’s time that those we elect serve the people, not the fossil fuel industry,” said Ward.

“The Hillsborough County Commission took the first step Tuesday in pushing back against an industry that has been given a free pass," she said. "We hope to see the county intervene further in the PSC proceedings and do everything in their power to ensure the energy utilities are making rate-lowering decisions like phasing out costly fossil fuels, bettering efficiency standards, and investing in resiliency projects meant to protect our pocketbooks and our environment.”

"Like almost all of us in Hillsborough County, my wife and I are totally dependent on TECO for our electricity," said Steve Kaufman, a Tampa pastor. "What about the thousands of folks who are forced to decide whether they're going to pay their electric bill or buy groceries or get drugs from the pharmacy? Rate hikes are the direct result of TECO's reliance on fossil fuel. New rates have been approved already, effective April 1st, but TECO's 10-year plan commits to more fossil fuel."

TECO requested a rate increase in January that was subsequently approved by the Public Service Commission on March 7. Archie Collins, president and chief executive officer of Tampa Electric, said the rate increase was needed to recoup $131 million in expenses for the prompt restoration of power after Hurricanes Ian and Nicole and five other storms in 2022 and to account for the extreme volatility of natural gas prices in 2022, which increased by more than 70 percent over the previous year.

As required by the state, on Friday, TECO submitted a proposal to the Public Service Commission outlining how it plans to provide electricity to its customers over the next 10 years.

During the coming months, the Public Service Commission will hold meetings in Tallahassee to discuss the 10-year plan before approving it. The five members of the commission, appointed by the governor, oversee Florida service providers including power and telecommunications.

Kaufman said those hearings should be held in Hillsborough County, not Tallahassee because "those impacted the most are less likely to have a voice in the matter. Tallahassee is too far away. We need to get people to the microphone. We need to be able to say something about this concern."

"Our utility bills keep going up and customers are removed from the process. In the last four years, the average Tampa Bay customer has gone from paying approximately $99 a month to now paying, as of this month, $162 per month" said Ward. "In that time, there hasn't been a single customer service hearing, workshop or town hall in Tampa Electric's service area, meaning the people affected by these hikes aren't able to make comment or take part in this process."

As a result of the April 1 rate increase, TECO customers are paying an additional 10 percent.

"These decisions were made in Tallahassee, over 275 miles away, without any input from a single TECO customer," Ward said. "Unlike other services we contract for, our utilities hold a monopoly, meaning customers do not have a choice of where they get their electricity. This makes it all the more important that they have a voice."

Related: Environmentalists Say TECO's 10-Year Plan Too Dependent On Fossil Fuel

Years, ago, she said, the Public Service Commission held in-district customer service hearings, "so this isn't unprecedented."

County Commissioner Pat Kemp made the motion to draft the letter to the Public Service Commission requesting that hearings be held in Hillsborough County before the commission makes a final decision on TECO's 10-year plan.

"People are suffering greatly not only by the rent and housing increases but also by insurance. And what people are facing in food costs, it's just getting to be unbearable," Kemp said. "I know this has hit me. I just noticed that my electric bill has gone up tremendously."

Kemp also asked the Hillsborough County Attorney's Office to look into anything else it can do to address the problem.

“We must also explore additional actions we can take in Florida to address the underlying fossil fuel reliance driving these costs," she said.

"This (Tallahassee) is a great distance from Hillsborough County, which may be a significant financial and logistical barrier to interested and affected individuals giving voice on a matter of importance," said Hillsborough County Commission chairman Ken Hagan in the letter to the PSC, noting that TECO is the exclusive energy provider for hundreds of thousands of rate payers, most of them in Hillsborough County.

In response to criticism of TECO's 1.4 percent increase in the use of fracked gas, Collins said TECO has made major progress in reducing its dependency on fossil fuels.

"Since 2000, Tampa Electric has reduced its use of coal by about 90 percent and cut our carbon footprint in half," Collins said. "Tampa Electric has the most solar power per customer of any utility in Florida, with more to come. By the end of 2025, we will have about 17 percent of our energy generated from the sun — the highest percentage of solar generation of any utility in the state."

And event with the April 1 rate increase, Collins said the typical residential bill for TECO customers is among the lowest in Florida.