For the first time in 10 years, Gulf Power Company has received a base rate increase from the Florida Public Service Commission.

On Monday, the Commission set new rates to reflect the increase. Beginning in mid-April, the price for a residential customer buying 1000 kilowatt-hours of electricity will increase to $126.53. The new price is $3.86 more than the price was before the utility asked for the increase last year. 

“Base rates cover everyday expenses of providing electric service — bucket trucks, diesel fuel, wire, poles, transformers, customer service offices, and much more,” said Sandy Sims, Manager of Public Affairs for Gulf Power. “These expenses have increased over the last 10 years, some by more than 250 percent. We absorbed these increases as long as possible, but we’ve reached a point that an increase is necessary to cover these rising costs.”

While this is the first base rate increase in a decade, other factors have increased Gulf Power’s prices, primarily the cost of meeting new environmental regulations and the cost of fuel the utility uses to make electricity. For instance, Gulf Power recently installed a new state of the art scrubber system at its largest generating plant. While this new system benefits the environment, it also carried a price tag of more than $650 million that is reflected in the company’s rates.  

In addition, fuel costs have risen sharply in the last few years.

“As part of the energy charge on the electricity bill we recover the costs of fuel from our customers without any markup” Sims said. “So when fuel prices increase, the price of electricity usually increases. We strive to maintain a fuel mix that provides reliable, stable prices for our customers. In fact, we just recently passed along two decreases in fuel costs to our customers — one in January and one this month.” 

Sims said Gulf Power will continue to offer programs to help customers make efficiency improvements in their homes or businesses. These EarthCents programs are helping many customers upgrade their heating/cooling systems, add insulation, and buy energy more efficiently. Since the beginning of the year, more than 43,000 customers have used these programs to save money and use less energy.

Additionally, Gulf Power is working with local and regional economic development organizations to design new incentives that will encourage business expansion and development in its service area.

“We understand that raising prices affects our customers,” said Sims. “We also understand that electricity is a vital component of our everyday lives — our employees will continue to work hard to keep our prices low, our reliability high, and offer excellent customer service. That was our commitment when Gulf Power began 86 years ago, and it remains our commitment to you today.”

Gulf Power Price Changes