JUNO BEACH, Fla., March 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Florida Power & Light
Company today announced jointly with Jack Shreve, Florida's Public Counsel,
and other parties, an agreement to permanently reduce base rates $250 million
a year. This represents a 7-percent base-rate reduction and will benefit all
FPL customers by approximately $1 billion over the four-year term of the
agreement. In addition, as part of the agreement, FPL will decrease its fuel
charge by an additional $200 million during 2002.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010621/FPLLOGO )
A residential bill will drop from the current $81.63 for 1,000
kilowatt-hours a month, to $76.22 beginning April 15, including base-rate and
fuel-clause reductions. In addition, customers will receive in their June
bills an expected $84 million refund from revenue sharing under the current
agreement. Combining base-rate and fuel-clause reductions, along with the
revenue refund, customers will see their bills decline by more than
$450 million this year.
The agreement is patterned after the revenue-sharing agreement currently
in place that has saved customers approximately $1.3 billion since 1999. Like
the current agreement, it features a special rebate to customers if FPL's
annual revenues increase above certain threshold levels. The new agreement
still must be approved by the Florida Public Service Commission. The parties
have asked the Commission to approve the agreement at a meeting on March 22.
"We're pleased to announce this rate reduction agreement that would end
this expensive, time-consuming rate review proceeding," said FPL President
Paul Evanson. "Our agreement continues progressive, incentive-based
regulation for the State of Florida. Through the leadership and dedicated
efforts of Jack Shreve and the Office of Public Counsel, we were able to reach
an agreement that is a win-win for customers and shareholders: major rate
reductions for our customers and incentives for FPL to improve operational
efficiencies while still maintaining high levels of reliable service. This
resulted after extensive review of our costs to provide electric service," Mr.
Evanson said.
Other parties in the rate review who have joined in the agreement are the
Florida Industrial Power Users Group, Florida Retail Federation, Lee County,
Publix Super Markets, Inc., Thomas P. and Genevieve Twomey and Dynegy
Midstream Services, LP. South Florida Hospital & Healthcare Association has
not signed the agreement at this time.
Since 1985, when FPL had its last rate increase, the utility has added
more than $10 billion in facilities and one million new customers. It has
announced plans to invest an additional $2.7 billion to significantly increase
its power generating capability during the next two years to ensure FPL can
meet the energy needs of customers in the most reliable and cost-effective
manner.
In its commitment to first class service, FPL has improved its system
reliability, which continues to be well above the national average. Since
1997, FPL decreased the average amount of time customers were without power by
nearly 50 percent and improved its restoration time by 30 percent. The number
of interruptions per customer in a year has improved 27 percent in four years.
Florida Power & Light Company is the principal subsidiary of FPL Group,
Inc. (NYSE: FPL), nationally known as a high quality, efficient and
customer-driven organization focused on energy-related products and services.
With annual revenues of more than $8 billion and a growing presence in more
than a dozen states, FPL Group is widely recognized as one of the country's
premier power companies. Florida Power & Light Company serves approximately
3.9 million customer accounts in Florida. FPL Energy, Inc., FPL Group's
energy-generating subsidiary, is a leader in producing electricity from clean
and renewable fuels. Additional information is available on the Internet at
http://www.fpl.com, http://www.fplgroup.com and http://www.fplenergy.com.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PROPOSED AGREEMENT:
* Base-rate reduction amount: Approximately $1 billion through 2005
($250 million annually)
* Fuel clause reduction: $200 million
* Residential rates: For a standard 1,000 kwh comparison, residential
monthly rates will decline from $81.63 to $76.22 as a result of base
rate and fuel adjustment reductions.
* Effective date: The new rates will be reflected in customers' bills
beginning April 15, 2002, through Dec. 31, 2005.
* Revenue sharing: Like the current agreement, customers will receive
refunds if revenues exceed certain threshold levels.
NOTE: FPL Group will host a conference call with security analysts
regarding the proposed rate agreement at 9 a.m. today. Interested parties
may listen to the conference call on FPL Group's Internet site,
http://www.fplgroup.com, by following the link provided.
SOURCE Florida Power & Light Company
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Related links:
http://www.fpl.com
http://www.fplgroup.com http://www.fplenergy.com
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