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Continued Rate Increases in Non-Restructured States

The examples listed below clearly confirm that vertically-integrated states are not immune to major rate increases. In this time of rising costs and challenging economics, it is more important now than ever to test utility resource decisions against all available alternatives, including those offered by competitive power suppliers, so consumers can be assured they are receiving the best possible deal. This is not an exhaustive list: numerous vertically-integrated utilities are raising rates across the United States.

  • In May 2008, the Georgia Public Service Commission approved a $222 million rate hike for Georgia Power to pay for higher fuel costs. The increase follows $372 million and $323 million rate increases from February and December 2007, respectively.


  • Dominion Virginia Power customers saw their monthly power bills jump $16 in July 2008, after the State Corporation Commission approved an 18 percent rate increase. The rate hike is the largest one-time rate increase in three decades. Dominion North Carolina Power customers are facing a 17.7 percent rate request, which would result in an average increase of $16.04 per month for average residential households, beginning in January 2009.


  • Florida Power & Light Company, also feeling the effects of increased fuel costs, had their 16 percent rate request split into two parts. Residential customers saw the first half of the increase in August 2008, when their bills increased by an average of $8.04 per month, and will see the second half of it in January 2009, when it will increase by another $7.65 per month. The Florida Public Service Commission also recently approved the recovery of $220 million for new and upgraded nuclear facilities for FPL.


  • Progress Energy Florida is predicting a 25 percent increase for monthly electricity bills in 2009, caused by rising fuel costs, investment in nuclear energy, and environmental improvements. For the average residential customer, that means an extra $27.29 each month for electricity, beginning in January 2009.


  • Meanwhile, Progress Energy is also pursuing a pending 11.5 percent rate increase in North Carolina. In June 2008, Progress Energy had asked for a 16.2 percent increase, but later agreed to spread the increase out over three years. If the state commission approves the proposed rate increase, average households could see their monthly electricity bills increase by $11.


  • In early September 2008, Kansas City Power and Light filed for a $257.5 million, or 16.2 percent, increase in base rates with the Missouri Public Service Commission and the Kansas Corporate Commission. If approved, average residential customers in Missouri would see a $13.89 monthly increase in their bills, while their counterparts in Kansas would see an extra $12.57, beginning in the summer of 2009.


  • The Tennessee Valley Authority's biggest rate increase since 1974 went into effect in October 2008, as customers will begin seeing a 20 percent increase in their monthly electricity bills. The average residential home can expect to pay between $15.80 and $19.80 more per month, an increase TVA attributes to rising coal and natural gas costs. This is the second rate increase TVA customers have seen this year, following a 7 percent increase in April.


  • Alabama Power customers will see their rates increase twice in three months, totaling just over 13 percent, after state regulators in Alabama just recently approved the utility's effort to cover increased fuel costs. After the initial increase in October 2008, the second increase is set to begin in January 2009. With these rate hikes, average residential households will see their monthly electricity bills increase $15.07. The 13 percent rate increase is the largest for Alabama Power since the state Public Service Commission established the current rate-setting process in 1982.


For further information & examples of rate increases across the country, visit http://www.epsa.org/industry/index.cfm?fa=rateHike

Continued Rate Increases in Non-Restructured States

CONTACT: JOHN SHELK
(202) 349-0154or 703-472-8660

EPSA is the national trade association representing competitive power suppliers, including generators and marketers. These suppliers, who account for nearly 40 percent of the installed generating capacity in the United States, provide reliable and competitively priced electricity from environmentally responsible facilities serving global power markets. EPSA seeks to bring the benefits of competition to all power customers.