State regulators Monday paused a closely watched case about increasing Florida Power & Light’s base electric rates after the utility and numerous parties announced Friday they had reached a “settlement in principle.”
Details of the potential settlement have not been released, and some parties in the case — including the state Office of Public Counsel, which is designated by law to represent consumers — have not signed on.
FPL is expected to file the details by Aug. 20, which would lead to the Florida Public Service Commission holding a hearing this fall that would include testimony and arguments about whether the settlement should be approved. New rates could take effect in January.
The commission was scheduled Monday to start such a hearing on a rate proposal that FPL filed Feb. 28 seeking increases of $1.545 billion in 2026 and $927 million in 2027. Also, the proposal called for FPL passing along costs to customers in 2028 and 2029 for solar-energy and battery-storage projects.
But the commission agreed to an FPL request to suspend timeframes in the case because of the potential settlement. FPL attorney John Burnett pointed to the likelihood of “disjointed” issues if the originally scheduled hearing proceeded.
“This is not efficient to go forward today,” Burnett said.
But Mary A. Wessling, an attorney in the Office of Public Counsel, objected to a continuation of the hearing. She and lawyers for other parties that have not agreed to the potential settlement said they wanted to ensure due process in the case.
“Our main goal is preserving our due process rights,” Wessling said.
Public Service Commission member Andrew Fay also cited a need to ensure due process, saying he wants “to get this right.”
“This is our largest utility provider, and there’s a lot of customers,” Fay, an attorney, said.
Base rates make up a major part of customers’ monthly bills, along with costs such as power-plant fuel. Base-rate cases play out over months at the Public Service Commission and involve voluminous amounts of financial and other data.
Along with FPL, other parties involved in the potential settlement are the Florida Industrial Power Users Group; the Florida Retail Federation; the Florida Energy for Innovation Association; Walmart, Inc.; EVgo Services LLC; Americans for Affordable Clean Energy; Circle K Stores, Inc., RaceTrac, Inc.; Wawa, Inc.’ Electrify America LLC; federal government agencies; Armstrong World Industries, Inc. and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, according to FPL’s filing.
But the Office of Public Counsel has been joined in its objections by the groups Florida Rising, the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida, the League of United Latin American Citizens and Floridians Against Increased Rates.
Settlements in base-rate cases are relatively common. FPL is operating under a four-year settlement that will expire at the end of 2025.
FPL officials said the potential settlement, in part, would help the utility provide reliable service and meet growing electricity demands.
“What this would do is present a really good opportunity to settle this case for the benefit of our customers,” FPL spokesman Bryan Garner said. “It would keep bills low, well below the national average as they have been for over a decade, reliability high and provide for the growth of our state. It is good for our customers and good for Florida.”
But Zayne Smith, senior director of advocacy for AARP Florida, said the potential settlement was reached behind “closed doors” and objected to the possibility of higher rates.
“You have an unnecessary rate hike, one that could be avoided,” Smith said. “That is detrimental. If you have a $5, $10 or $15 dollar increase on your monthly power bill, that could be the difference between filling a prescription, buying groceries or filling your tank with gas.”
–Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida, with NSF’s Mike Exline
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