Florida: Duke Energy Proposes Rate Increase

According to an article recently issues by YahooFinance Duke Energy is proposing an increase of 2.6% – 7.7% for residential, commercial and industrial energy customers. If approved, Duke plans to use the rate hike to cover damages caused by recent hurricane Dorian and tropical storm Nestor. The total restoration costs equal to an estimated $170 million dollars.

Why we suggest Florida energy customers be energy independent. 

Per the same Yahoo article, Duke Energy has future plans to repair and improve infrastructure and enhance reliability. The plans include a stronger system to reduce damage and outages during natural disasters, costing an estimated $28 billion dollars just for the electricity and utility infrastructure, an additional $6 billion dollars for gas utilities and infrastructure and lastly, $2.6 billion dollars for commercial renewables between 2019-2023.

Duke also plans massive expansion of its renewable energy portfolio across all 14 states that it services – totaling 21 wind and 64 solar facilities.

While all improvements are positive, further rate hikes for Florida and nearby states are predicted.

Who should be considering solar?

If your property receives sunlight, you should think about going solar. Energy Professionals offers free solar consultations, as well as quotes and designs to help you see if solar is the right option for you.

Thanks to large investments being made into renewable energy and solar, the cost for developing and installing solar is rapidly declining, making it more and more affordable to go solar. That, in addition to tax credits and other incentives, have helped many residential and commercial energy customers make the switch.

Apart from being good for the environment, going solar provides residence and business owners alike the capability to produce their own energy and become independent from grid supply.

But solar doesn’t always mean you’re no longer subject to blackouts and power outages when storms hit. Full reliability and protection will also require a battery system or onsite generation.

Below you can see the graph of Florida solar installations, an expanding market that is not only helping people be more energy independent but is also creating job opportunities and increasing the local economy.

Increasing electricity rates; Florida compared to other states:

In the below graph you can see the average retail rates for electricity increasing over the past two decades, the national average being at 10.58 cents per KWH. Average Florida’s rates are currently 11.42 cents and the 22nd highest in the U.S. 

Be it energy efficiency solutions to help you improve efficiency and reduce energy waste, energy intelligence software to help you better manage energy across multiple locations or renewable energy installations to make you energy independent, Energy Professional is a Florida based energy consultant that can help you find the energy solutions for your needs. Contact Energy Professionals.