TECO

The Office of Public Counsel, which represents consumers in utility issues, filed a notice that it was appealing regulators' approval of the increases, as did the groups Florida Rising and LULAC Florida.

Florida Rising and LULAC Florida filed notices that they were appealing the Public Service Commission's rate approval to the Florida Supreme Court.

The Florida Public Service Commission approved the rate hikes as they look to recover costs related to last year's hurricanes.

Staff members of the Florida Public Service Commission recommended proposals that would add about $21 a month for Duke customers and $30 for TECO customers starting in March.

The proposals would lead to customers seeing increases in their monthly bills starting in March and continuing for a year.

Residential customers who use 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month will see their monthly bills increase from $136.44 to $145.58.

“Our residents need to start looking at future risk… start thinking about what happens when sea level rise starts combining with rainier days and stronger storms,” said Cara Wood Serra of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council.

The Florida Public Service Commission, which oversees Tampa Electric, approved rate increases, higher profits, and a new fracked gas plant for MacDill Air Force Base.

A spokeswoman for TECO said after the company was “still calculating the impact” of changes adopted by the Public Service Commission.

Justices unanimously upheld decisions that the Florida Public Service Commission made in 2022 to approve what are known as “storm-protection plans” for Florida Power & Light, Duke Energy Florida, Tampa Electric Co. and Florida Public Utilities Co.

Tampa Electric estimates it could seek to recover up to $55 million related to Helene and $370 for Milton.

Tampa Electric asked the commission to approve a $287.98 million increase in 2025, followed by increases of $92.37 million in 2026 and $65.47 million in 2027.