Lakeland Electric to Reduce Fuel Charge Next Quarter

The Lakeland City Commission voted Thursday to lower the electric fuel charge for Lakeland Electric customers for the next fiscal quarter (Oct./Nov./Dec. - 2019). After giving a presentation at the Thursday, September 5 Utility Committee meeting, staff recommended lowering the fuel charge by $3.75 from $36.50 to $32.75. The lower rate was made possible by lower natural gas prices than expected, reserve funds, and an outage of Unit 3 which caused less coal consumption.

The fuel charge will change to 3.275¢ per kilowatt hour (kWh). Multiplying the new fuel charge by 1,000 kWh, the amount an average residential home utilizes in a month, the cost equals $32.75 per 1,000 kWh for fuel.

The reduction of the fuel charge will help our customers keep their electric costs low and is Lakeland Electric’s lowest fuel rate in 17 years. In fact, Lakeland Electric continues to have some of the lowest electric rates in the state. As with most electric utilities that generate their own power, the cost of fuel is passed directly to customers. This makes the fuel charge an important part of Lakeland Electric’s ongoing effort to keep our customer’s electric costs low.