State regulators Thursday signed off on electrical utilities accumulating tons of of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} from clients subsequent 12 months to pay for tasks aimed toward bolstering the power system towards storms.
The Florida Public Service Commission permitted proposals by Florida Power & Light, Duke Energy Florida, Tampa Electric Co. and Florida Public Utilities Co.
The proposals concerned quantities that will probably be recovered from clients for tasks deliberate in 2023 and to “true up” prices for tasks in 2021 and 2022.
The true-up course of includes resolving discrepancies between projected and precise prices.
The fee cleared the best way for FPL to gather about $367.6 million; Duke to gather $140.5 million; Tampa Electric to gather $54.2 million; and Florida Public Utilities to gather $1.47 million.
The quantities, which is able to go towards tasks for things like putting in underground power strains, are tied to a 2019 legislation handed after Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Michael and different storms brought about widespread power outages.
The legislation, partially, modified the best way storm-protection tasks had been financed. Previously, utilities included such prices of their base electrical charges, that are set for a number of years.
But the legislation arrange a separate Public Service Commission course of that allowed utilities annually to hunt to gather cash from clients for the tasks.
Utilities file 10-year storm-protection plans with the fee after which are capable of search cash from clients yearly to hold out the plans.
The approval Thursday got here because the fee held a listening to on a number of forms of prices that may have an effect on clients’ utility payments in 2023. The fee is scheduled to proceed the listening to Friday.