Power customers to receive bill reduction

Gulf Power customers will notice a reduction in their January power bill after the Florida Public Service Commission approved a decrease because of lower coal and natural gas prices.

According to a Gulf Power press release, the electricity bill for an average home buying 1,000 kilowatt-hours is about $127. As of January, the same amount of electricity will cost $1.36 less.

“The FPSC adjusts our prices each year based on the cost of the fuel used to make electricity, power bought from other utilities and providers, environmental compliance expenses and the cost of energy efficiency programs for customers,” said Jeff Rogers, Gulf Power corporate communications supervisor. “Through prudent planning of our generation needs, we are able to optimize our fuel purchases and environmental compliance expenses which will result in a net decrease to our customers in January 2012.”

The press release stated that Gulf Power monitors its fuel mix to use the most cost-effective generation available at any time during the day, which has helped the company take advantage of some lower fuel prices for coal and natural gas.

However, the decrease could be a moot point if Gulf Power is granted permission to raise its base rates by more than 10 percent. If approved, the average bill would increase about $12.

For more on this story, see the Jan. 5 issue of Navarre Press, or subscribe online.