FPL seeks Isaias fee while lowering 2027 rates

Florida Power & Light has asked state regulators to approve a temporary fee for Hurricane Isaias while simultaneously lowering the average monthly electric bill for customers starting in January 2027. The utility filed a request with the Public Service Commission on Friday that combines a storm recovery surcharge with a base rate adjustment that is slightly lower than the amount previously approved.

FPL proposes that the base rate for a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month be set at $141.87 in 2027. This figure is $1.18 less than the rate established under the four-year settlement finalized in October 2025. The company attributes the reduction to a modern, fuel-efficient generation fleet, disciplined operations, and lower projected natural gas costs.

Scott Bores, FPL President and CEO, stated that the company's modern generation fleet and efficiency efforts are keeping bills lower than projected last year. He noted that these factors allow the utility to recover hurricane response costs without raising the overall bill compared to the prior approval.

The proposed adjustment includes a temporary surcharge of $3.48 per month for every 1,000 kilowatt-hours of use. FPL intends to apply this fee to monthly bills from January through December 2027 to recover costs associated with power restoration from Hurricane Isaias and to replenish its storm reserve. The storm made landfall near Destin on October 9 as a Category 2 system.

The hurricane knocked out power to approximately 84 percent of FPL's customers in northwest Florida. The company mobilized about 17,000 workers who restored power where possible within four days. FPL reports that its smart-grid technology helped avoid roughly 138,000 outages during the event. The utility also noted that underground neighborhood power lines performed 14 times better than overhead lines and that no hardened poles failed during the storm.

FPL serves nearly 6.13 million homes and businesses across 41 counties in Florida, representing about 12 million people. The 2025 settlement with the Public Service Commission had previously projected base-rate increases of $945 million in 2026 and $705 million in 2027. The Office of Public Counsel estimated that cumulative increases over the four-year settlement could reach about $6.9 billion over previous rates.