Utility looks to pass along additional fuel costs

By News Service of Florida

TALLAHASSEE — Customers of Florida Public Utilities Co., which provides electricity in parts of North Florida, could see increased monthly bills because of higher-than-expected natural gas prices.

The utility filed a notice Wednesday that said it expects to ask the state Public Service Commission to approve what is known as a “mid-course correction” to pass along extra fuel costs to customers.

The commission in recent months has approved mid-course corrections for Florida Power & Light, Duke Energy Florida and Tampa Electric Co., as the utility industry grapples with high costs of fuel for power plants. Utilities generally are allowed to pass along fuel costs to customers and are not supposed to profit from those costs.

Each year, the commission sets the amounts that utilities can collect for fuel in the following year. But if costs are higher than expected, utilities can seek “mid-course corrections.” Florida Public Utilities, which provides electricity in Jackson, Calhoun, Liberty and Nassau counties, did not indicate in the notice the amount of costs it will seek to pass along to customers.

“FPUC anticipates filing a petition requesting a mid-course correction in short order, as it does not anticipate future conditions will mitigate the projected fuel costs and anticipated under-recovery for the period,” the document said.

Article reposted with permission from the News Service of Florida.