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PSC Gives A Thumbs Down To Duke Rate Hike

Florida Public Service Commission

State regulators are rejecting Duke Energy’s request for a mid-year rate hike to cover an unexpected rise in the cost of fuel.

Duke says it needed to charge customers more because it underestimated fuel costs by some $182 million.

But Commissioner Julie Brown told the power company’s attorneys they need to do a better job with their forecasts.

The Public Service Commission greenlighted Duke’s fuel cost projections just six months ago.  

Customers who use 1,000 kilowatt hours would have seen about a $5  increase in the fuel portion of their monthly bills.

In a statement, Duke says it was trying to act quickly to avoid socking customers with bigger increases in 2018.

Duke serves about 1.7 million customers in Florida.

A Miami native, former WFSU reporter Jim Ash is an award-winning journalist with more than 20 years of experience, most of it in print. He has been a member of the Florida Capital Press Corps since 1992.