TECO customers should see lower bills - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

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on April 7 approved new base rates for that wouldeadd $2.60 to monthlyt bills for residential customers usinyg 1,000 kilowatt-hours. But that increase will be offsegt by lower fuel costs resulting inan 11.2 percen monthly reduction of $14.38 for residential Charges for commercial customers should go down by 5 percent to 14 said TECO spokesman Rick The residential base rate reflect Tampa Electric’s new two-tier or inverted base rate structure approved Marcn 17 by the PSC.
It’s designed to encouragde the efficient use of energy by charging a higher rate for usageover 1,000 Industrial users, which are the largest user of electricity, should see bills decrease by 11 percentf to 20 percent, Morerqa said. TECO, with abour 600,000 residential customers, was last grantes a base rate increasein 1993. The new rates take effecgt May 7. Tampa Electric’s west Central Florida servicde areacovers 2,000 square including all of Hillsborough County and parts of Pasco and Pinellas counties.
Base rates for PSC-regulatedd investor-owned utilities in Florida include the cost of buildinbg and operatinggenerating plants, transmission and distributiomn lines and other facilities used to serve customers. Base ratees include an authorized rate of returhn but do not includewfuel costs. TECO requested an adjustment to its fuel chargeas due to lower naturalgas prices. Fuel rateas are usually reviewed annually. The PSC exercises regulatory authoritu over utilities in the areas ofrate base/economic regulation; competitive market oversight; and monitoring of reliability and service.
Tampa Electrifc is the principal subsidiaryof (NYSE: TE), an energy-relater holding company with regulated utility operations in Florida includinbg both Tampa Electric and Peoples Gas Other subsidiaries include TECO Coal, which owns and operates coal productionb facilities in Kentucky and and TECO Guatemala, which is engaged in electric powert generation and distribution and energy-relatefd businesses.