FPL Rate Hike Not Needed to Serve You, It’s About Corporate Profit

Throughout June, AARP Florida attended nine statewide Public Service Commission (PSC) hearings to refute Florida Power & Light’s (FPL) request for a $1.34 billion increase in base rates. Know these two facts about FPL’s request:

1. $960 million of FPL’s rate increase will go into FPL investors’ pockets. None of those funds will go to service enhancements, disaster preparedness, or energy innovation.
2. According to their own filing with the PSC, FPL is on target to make $1.6B in profit in 2017 without the requested rate increase.

This is a complex request that would require you – the consumer – to pay monthly increases to the only power provider available to you. FPL’s request equals a 23 percent base rate increase for all residential ratepayers (this is a charge increase even before you flip on a switch,) and would allow an unprecedented return on equity (shareholder profit) of 11.5 to 12.5 percent.

You still have time to have your voice heard and make a difference before the final hearing in Tallahassee starting on Aug. 22. FPL residential customers who were unable to attend one of the public hearings in person can submit their testimony either one of two ways:

1)  email your testimony to the Public Service Commission Clerk at  clerk@psc.state.fl.us

2)  mail a paper copy of your testimony to:

Ms. Carlotta Stauffer
Commission Clerk
Florida Public Service Commission
2540 Shumard Oak Blvd.
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0850

Be sure to include: a) your first and last name; b) address where you receive FPL service; and c) the docket number 160021-E1 on your testimony so that it can be included for consideration.

All correspondence must be submitted by Aug. 19, 2016.

Here’s what your fellow FPL ratepayers told the PSC:

“We have no option of investing in any other power company, we have no say in how many millions of dollars they pay their C-Suite executives, and we have no accurate accounting for the full scale of political contributions they make each year to influence those in powers to keep FPL in its unchallenged, powerful position in this state.” – Susan Hicks, Sarasota FPL Customer

 “They're asking for money to resolve – to get more profit for people that are out – for their shareholders that are out of state. Now we have seniors that cannot afford to buy their medication, and now with this rate increase and everything else, as everyone has spoken about, that will – it's not only a 23 percent, everything that comes with it that they're going to have to pay for, they may have to – they may have to serve – they may have to not eat to be able to pay for their bills.” – Miguel Soliman, Miami FPL Customer.

“When you're considering this rate increase in order to generate higher profits for FP&L, please keep in mind that those profits come at our expense, and that includes the senior community, many of whom are having a very hard time of it.” – Steve Zarzecki, Miami FPL Customer

Sincerely,

Jeff Johnson, State Director
AARP Florida