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Duke Energy plans to lower rates by nearly $6 a month

Duke Energy Florida expects to lower residential electric rates $5.83 monthly for the typical customer beginning with its April billing in a plan submitted to state utility regulators.
Duke Energy

St. Petersburg, Florida -- Duke Energy Florida expects to lower residential electric rates $5.83 monthly for the typical customer beginning with its April billing in a plan submitted to the Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC).

 

The savings are based on the falling price of natural gas, which is used to generate most of the Florida's electricity. For Duke, that means a typical customer will pay $108.32 per month for 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity.

Business customers will also see similar rate reductions depending on a number of factors including rate class and type of service.

"After this price drop, our customers will be paying about 21 percent less for electricity than they were in January 2009. That's nearly $30 in savings every month," said Alex Glenn, Duke Energy state president – Florida. "We continue to seek innovative approaches to provide the best possible price while we invest in affordable, clean energy and improve reliability for our customers every day."

The rate decrease is expected to be approved by the FPSC.

The company says other cost-saving price changes are on the horizon.

In the spring, the company plans to issue low-cost bonds to cut costs associated with the Crystal River nuclear plant. The process, called Asset Securitization, will save customers approximately $600 million as compared to traditional cost recovery methods, depending on the interest rate.

Once in place, customers will see a new line on the bill titled "Asset Securitization Charge." The amount of the charge is currently estimated to be approximately $2.93/month, which is about $2 less – a more than 35 percent savings for the next 20 years –  than what customers would pay on a 1,000 kWh residential bill under traditional cost recovery methods.

Individual electric bills vary greatly and depend on the amount of electricity used. 

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