Tallahassee, FL — Today, after more than a year of sustained public opposition in Hillsborough County, the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) voted to deny staff recommendations that would have slashed Tampa Electric Company (TECO)’s rate hike request in half, saving residential customers millions of dollars over the next three years. The approved rate changes will go into effect in January.

Details of the approved rate case include:

• Residents and small businesses footing the bill: PSC rejected staff’s recommendation to save residential and small business customers $71 million in rate increases in favor of saving large industrial and commercial customers money.
• Increased corporate profits: PSC approved a return on equity of 10.5% (up from 10.2% at present), although significantly less than TECO’s requested 11.5%, which would have been among the highest guaranteed utility profits in the nation.
• New fracked gas plant: The PSC rejected staff’s recommendation to deny TECO’s request to build a new fracked gas plant at the MacDill Air Force Base. The new plant will cost customers over $167 million in increased rates.

In response, Food & Water Watch Senior Florida Organizer Brooke Ward issued the following statement:

“Today’s decision is a gut punch to struggling community members, still reeling from the unexpected costs of back to back hurricanes and record inflation. What could have been a landmark victory for communities over corporations, and an historic win for energy justice, took a hard left turn to support profits over people.

“From the start, TECO’s despicable attempt to profit off Hillsborough County residents struggling to make ends meet has always been about corporate greed. Despite staff recommendations to deny TECO’s requests, the PSC continues to be a rubber-stamp for utilities & big business over struggling communities.

“For more than a year, Food & Water Watch and our allies have been mobilizing citizen opposition to these greedy fossil fueled rate hikes. We organized hundreds of people to successfully terminate TECO’s proposal to shortcut its public process. And we won Tampa Bay’s first in-district PSC TECO rate hike hearing in 15 years, so that impacted community members could have their voices heard. As the case moved forward, hundreds of residents made their opposition known, a key factor in the staff’s recommendation to significantly slash TECO’s rate hike. The utility-influenced PSC has decided instead to continue business as usual.

“The Hillsborough County Commission has an opportunity to correct today’s wrong by passing an Affordable Energy & Climate Plan to keep energy bills low by moving off fossil fuels.”

Hillsborough County residents opposed to corporate rate hikes are calling for passage of a county-wide Affordable Energy & Climate Plan to move off costly fossil fuels, and lower energy bills. One in five Tampa households — almost 250,000 — are energy burdened, meaning they spend more than six percent of their income on energy bills, cutting into costs for other necessities.

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