Solar Energy
FPL Rate Hikes 2021 to 2029: Why Florida Power Bills Keep Climbing
Why does my FPL bill keep going up?
Three things move an FPL bill: base rates the Florida Public Service Commission sets four years at a time, fuel charges that follow natural gas prices, and storm surcharges after hurricanes. Base rates rose in 2026 and are scheduled to rise every year through 2029.
Florida Power & Light serves about 12 million people, roughly half the state [1]. If you are one of them, your bill is not one price. It is three separate decisions, made by different people on different schedules, stacked on top of each other. This page walks through each one using FPL's own published figures, the Public Service Commission's orders, and federal data, so you can see what actually moved your bill and what is already scheduled to move it next.
Nova Structa is not affiliated with FPL. Every number below links to its source at the bottom of the page.
The typical FPL bill, 2021 to 2029
FPL reports a "typical" residential bill based on 1,000 kWh of use a month. It is the cleanest way to compare years, even though most homes use more or less than that.
Typical FPL residential bill at 1,000 kWh
Peninsular Florida. Billed amounts and FPL's own projections.
| When | Typical bill | What drove it |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 average | $101.70 | FPL's average for the year [5] |
| January to April 2023 | $144.38 | Before a $379 million fuel cut in May [6] |
| Late 2024 | $121.19 | Before the 2025 hurricane surcharge [7] |
| Late 2025 | $134.14 | Included a $12.02 hurricane surcharge [1] |
| January 2026 | $136.64 | New four-year base rates begin [1] |
| January 2027 (projected) | $143.05 | Second base-rate step [2] |
| January 2028 (projected) | $146.24 | Solar and battery additions [2] |
| December 2029 (projected) | $148.15 | End of the current rate plan [2] |
By FPL's own numbers, the January 2026 bill is about 34% higher than the 2021 average, and the December 2029 estimate is about 46% higher. The consumer group Food & Water Watch, starting from December 2020, puts the increase through January 2026 at 45% [4].
Piece one: base rates, set four years at a time
Base rates pay for the poles, wires, power plants and the return FPL's shareholders earn on them. They do not change with the weather or the price of gas. The Public Service Commission sets them in a rate case, and FPL's current plan runs from January 2026 through December 2029.
On November 20, 2025, the PSC approved a settlement worth about $7 billion over four years [3]. It adds $945 million in annual base revenue starting January 1, 2026, another $705 million starting January 1, 2027, and lets FPL add solar and battery projects to rates in 2027, 2028 and 2029 [3]. Food & Water Watch called it the largest rate hike in U.S. history [4].
Who agreed, and who did not
FPL reached the settlement with ten of the 13 groups that intervened in the case [3], including the Florida Retail Federation, Walmart and several industrial and EV charging companies [2]. The Office of Public Counsel, the state agency that represents residential customers, was not one of them. Public Counsel objected to the deal, including its authorized 10.95% return on equity [3], which it says is the highest in the lower 48 states [4].
The PSC denied Public Counsel's request to reconsider in April 2026, and the case is now before the Florida Supreme Court [11].
FPL's position is that the plan pays for a fast-growing state, with about 335,000 new customers expected by the end of the decade, and that its bills will stay below the national average through 2029 [1].
Why January 2026 only went up $2.50
If the rate hike was historic, why did the typical bill rise just $2.50 in January? Because something else came off the bill on the same day.
What changed between late 2025 and January 2026
Typical 1,000 kWh FPL bill
The 2025 hurricane surcharge of $12.02 a month expired just as the new base rates took effect. Everything else on the bill rose by $14.52 a month. The net change was $2.50, which is why many people did not notice the increase. Food & Water Watch reached a similar figure, estimating customers would pay over $14 a month more starting in January 2026 [4].
Piece two: fuel, the charge nobody votes on
About 69% of the energy FPL delivered in 2025 came from natural gas, with roughly 20% from nuclear and 11% from solar [10]. FPL passes the cost of that fuel straight through to customers without earning a profit on it [6]. That is fair, but it also means your bill follows a commodity market that nobody in Florida controls.
Where FPL's energy came from in 2025
Here is what that looks like in practice. In August 2021, FPL projected a typical 2023 bill of $111.63 [5]. Then natural gas prices spiked in 2022, and hurricanes Ian and Nicole hit. By early 2023, the typical bill was $144.38 [6].
FPL's 2021 projection for 2023, and what 2023 actually billed
FPL lowered fuel charges by $379 million in May 2023 once gas prices eased, which brought the typical bill to $139.95 [6]. Fuel can move in either direction. The point is that it moves, and every projection on this page includes a guess about where it is headed.
Piece three: storms, the bill after the bill
Florida electric bills do not include the cost of hurricane recovery up front. After a storm, FPL asks the PSC for a temporary surcharge to recover what it spent [7].
After Debby, Helene and Milton in 2024, customers paid a $12.02 monthly surcharge on a typical bill for all of 2025 [7]. In July 2026, regulators set the final recovery at about $1.125 billion, slightly less than estimated, and FPL is returning about $80 million through a one-time credit of roughly $8 on September 2026 bills [8].
These events are getting harder to treat as rare. The U.S. Energy Information Administration found that customers nationwide averaged 11 hours without power in 2024, nearly double the decade before, with major events like Beryl, Helene and Milton accounting for 80% of those hours [9].
The part the projections leave out.
FPL's estimates through 2029 include fuel forecasts but no future storm costs [2]. Any hurricane that hits FPL territory before the plan ends would add a new surcharge on top of the numbers above.
The new rate agreement does cap how fast that can happen. An interim storm surcharge is limited to $5 a month on a typical 1,000 kWh bill for the first 12 months, with any remaining costs recovered in later years, and FPL can ask regulators to raise the cap [3].
What 2027 to 2029 looks like
Under the approved plan, FPL estimates the typical bill will reach about $143.05 in January 2027, or $143.25 if the 2027 solar and battery projects are approved, then $146.24 in January 2028 and $148.15 by December 2029 [2]. FPL describes that as about a 2% average annual increase [2].
Treat those as a floor for planning, not a ceiling. They assume FPL's current fuel forecast holds and that no storm surcharges are added, and the Florida Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the appeal [11].
What you can actually control
You cannot vote on a rate case or set the price of natural gas. You can control how much electricity you buy and where it comes from.
Use less of it
FPL's own guidance is to cool your home at 78 degrees or higher, and it says each degree higher can trim cooling costs by about 5% a month [6]. FPL also offers an Energy Manager tool at no charge that shows where your power is going.
Read the line items
Your bill breaks out base charges, fuel, storm protection and any storm restoration surcharge. Knowing which line moved tells you whether a change was a rate decision, a fuel swing or a storm.
Make some of your own power
Rooftop solar generates electricity on your own roof, which can reduce how many kilowatt-hours you buy from FPL each month. The power you still buy from the grid is billed at FPL's rates, whatever they are that year. Net metering in FPL territory is a billing credit for energy you send back, not a cheaper rate (how net metering works with FPL).
How much it helps depends on your roof, shading, usage and financing terms, and results are not guaranteed. A battery adds a different kind of value: backup power during an outage, for as long as its capacity and your usage allow. See solar systems and Tesla roofs and Powerwalls for how a consultation works.
If you want to see what solar could look like on your own home first, render your home in about 20 seconds, or book a free assessment to review your bill line by line.
Sources
- Florida Power & Light, "Florida regulators approve FPL rate agreement that keeps customer bills low, meets needs of growing state," November 20, 2025. newsroom.fpl.com
- Florida Power & Light, "FPL rate settlement reduces request by nearly a third, limits average annual bill increases to 2%, maintains consumer protections," August 20, 2025. newsroom.fpl.com
- NextEra Energy, Form 8-K on the Florida PSC's approval of the FPL rate agreement, November 20, 2025. sec.gov. See also Florida Phoenix, "PSC approves contentious $7 billion rate hike for Florida Power & Light customers." floridaphoenix.com
- Food & Water Watch, "DeSantis' PSC Approves FPL Rate Hike, Largest in U.S. History," November 20, 2025. foodandwaterwatch.org
- Florida Power & Light, "FPL reaches comprehensive four-year rate settlement agreement," August 10, 2021. newsroom.fpl.com
- Florida Power & Light, "State regulators approve FPL rate decrease in May," April 4, 2023. newsroom.fpl.com
- Florida Power & Light, "FPL outlines plan to pay for significant restoration efforts after four hurricanes slam Florida in 14 months," October 29, 2024. newsroom.fpl.com
- Florida Power & Light, "FPL customers to receive one-time bill reduction in September," July 8, 2026. newsroom.fpl.com. See also The Cool Down, "Florida trims FPL storm recovery to $1.125 billion after Debby, Helene, and Milton," July 25, 2026. thecooldown.com
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Hurricanes in 2024 led to the most hours without power in the United States in 10 years," December 1, 2025. eia.gov
- Florida Power & Light, Ten Year Power Plant Site Plan, 2026 to 2035. fpl.com
- Tampa Bay Times, "FPL rate hike to be reviewed by the Florida Supreme Court," April 7, 2026. tampabay.com
Savings and utility-bill examples shown are illustrative only, are not guaranteed, and may not reflect typical results. Actual savings depend on your energy usage, system size, roof and site conditions, financing terms, utility rates, net-metering rules, and other factors specific to your home.
