JUNO BEACH, Fla., May 4 /PRNewswire/ -- The Florida Public Service
Commission staff has recommended to the commission that it require Florida
Power & Light Company to submit the necessary information by August 15 to
initiate a base rate proceeding regarding FPL's future rates. The staff has
asked the commission to consider its recommendation on May 15.
FPL said its current rate agreement will remain in effect until
April 15, 2002.
In 1999, FPL agreed with the Public Counsel and the PSC to reduce rates by
$1 billion or approximately $350 million annually for a three-year period.
The incentive-based agreement also included revenue rebates to customers if
the company's revenues exceeded specified levels. In 2000, customers received
a $22.8-million rebate, and the company expects to refund approximately
$100 million in June.
"Our customers have realized significant benefits from our current
incentive-based agreement," said Paul Evanson, president of FPL. "We are
disappointed that the FPSC staff would call for this action at this time. We
believe our customers would be best served by allowing adequate time for a
dialogue between us and the commissioners and Public Counsel on future rate
structures rather than embarking on a costly and time consuming base rate
proceeding."
Mr. Evanson pointed out that FPL has lowered base rates since its last
rate proceeding more than 15 years ago. He said this is especially noteworthy
considering that over the past decade the company has spent nearly $9 billion
in new plant and system expansion and is currently serving more than 700,000
additional customers. He also noted that FPL's residential base rates are
lower than other major utilities in Florida and are 11 percent below the
national average.
In its recommendation to the commission, the FPSC staff expressed concerns
related to FPL's plans to participate in the creation of an independent
transmission company along with other major utilities in Florida. FPL has
been proceeding to meet the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Order 2000
to establish a regional transmission organization. The company said it may
have to re-evaluate its plans in light of the FPSC staff's expressed concerns.
Florida Power & Light Company is the principal subsidiary of FPL Group,
Inc. (NYSE: FPL), one of the nation's largest providers of electricity-related
services with annual revenues of more than $7 billion. The company serves
approximately 3.9 million customer accounts in Florida. FPL Energy, LLC, FPL
Group's U.S. and international 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.
SOURCE Florida Power & Light Company
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Related links:
http://www.fpl.com
http://www.fplgroup.com
CONTACT:
Florida Power & Light Company Corporate
Communications Dept. Media Line, 305-552-3888
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