Supreme Court Sets FPL Rate Arguments

Article reposted with permission from The News Service of Florida.

The state Supreme Court will hear arguments Oct. 8 in a long-running fight about a 2021 settlement that increased Florida Power & Light’s base electric rates. The court on Thursday issued an order scheduling a hearing in an appeal filed by the groups Florida Rising, the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida and the League of United Latin American Citizens of Florida. The groups are challenging the Florida Public Service Commission’s approval of a four-year settlement that FPL reached with the state Office of Public Counsel, which represents consumers in utility issues, and other parties including the Florida Retail Federation, the Florida Industrial Power Users Group and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. The settlement led to a $692 million rate increase in January 2022 and another $560 million hike in 2023. The wide-ranging settlement also included such things as allowing increases in 2024 and 2025 to pay for solar-energy projects. But in a somewhat-unusual move, the Supreme Court last year sent the case back to the commission because justices said the regulatory panel had not shown why the settlement “is in the public interest and results in rates that are fair, just and reasonable.” The commission responded in March by issuing a more-extensive order approving the settlement. That led the opponents to appeal the new order to the Supreme Court.