Florida Power & Light has reached an 11th-hour “agreement in principle” with parties objecting to its proposed four-year, $10 billion rate increase, but the details remain undisclosed.
The investor-owned utility made the announcement Friday, just three days before the Public Service Commission was scheduled to begin a hearing on the the proposed rate hike.
The utility giant said the agreement would be finalized and made public by Aug. 20. The yet-to-be-announced-rates must still be approved by the PSC.
FPL released a statement announcing that the rate settlement “would keep customer bills well below the national average through the end of the decade.”
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement in principle with key stakeholders. A settlement would provide a win for our customers and the state of Florida. We appreciate the constructive engagement of key intervenors,” FPL CEO Armando Pimentel said in a news release.
The company announced that the settlement was supported by 10 groups of heavy power users, including the business-friendly Florida Retail Federation, and consumer advocate groups like the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
During Monday’s PSC hearing, initially set to hear from parties to the rate-setting procedure, but diverted in light of the provisional settlement, critics targeted the proposed rate increase as the product of “corporate greed.”
Zayne Smith, senior director for advocacy at AARP Florida, said she still opposes the agreed-upon rates and criticized that the settlement wasn’t publicly available for review.
“It actually doesn’t give much hope at all, because the settlement totally eviscerates any transparency and accountability rate payers like you and me and anyone watching this from their homes have when it comes to decisions that are being made on our behalf,” Smith said Monday before the PSC met.
Smith said seniors and others on fixed incomes will be hit hardest by the increase, arguing a $5-$15 increase on power bills could be the difference between being able to buy groceries or gas for the month.
AARP Florida delivered 34,000 signed petitions opposing the increase to the PSC meeting on Monday. Of those, 12,000 were mailed in and 22,000 were completed online.
“This is the perfect signal to our legislative body that reform at the public service commission is necessary,” Smith said. She wants the Legislature to revisit the issue, noting that Sen. Don Gaetz filed SB 354, during the 2025 session but that it never attracted a House sponsor.
That proposal aimed to increase transparency and hold utility companies more accountable for how they set rates.
FPL’s initial proposal would have increased by 2029 what the “typical” FPL customer in Florida would pay by up to $18 per month, according to the company.
FPL serves more than 6 million accounts and 12 million people in Florida. It’s parent company, NextEra Energy, is Florida-based and publicly traded.
The agreement, Smith said, should be the “perfect catalyst” for legislators to start a conversation on changing the process next year.
“Any agreement that we reach should enable FPL to continue to make smart investments on behalf of our customers, ensuring that we can continue to provide reliable electricity to power our fast-growing state while keeping customer bills low,” Pimentel said.
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