Expect a discount on your May electric bill

Cash-strapped Florida households will have a few extra dollars to spend after paying their May power bills.

State utility regulators have approved Florida Power & Light’s bid to give customers a nearly 25% discount off electricity consumed in May, the utility announced Tuesday.

The reduction reflects lowerthan-projected costs of fuel the utility buys to fire power generation plants throughout its service area. FPL, the state’s largest investor-owned utility, serves about 5 million customers, or 10 million people, along Florida’s eastern and southwestern coasts.

A typical household that consumes about 1,000 kWh of electricity per month will pay $73.36 for its service during May, FPL’s statement said. Normally that bill would be $96.04. Households that use more power will see bigger savings.

Fuel cost savings will also be passed along to customers of three other investorowned utilities in the state, according to a statement from the Florida Public Service Commission. They are Duke Energy Florida, Gulf Power Company and Tampa Electric Company. Discounts for Duke and Gulf customers will be applied to May bills, while Tampa Electric customers will see reduced costs from June to December, the PSC said.

Most years, any fuel cost savings are spread across several months, FPL said. But this year, the utility sought approval for a onetime reduction to provide financial help for customers affected by the coronavirus crisis.

“Challenging times call for exceptional measures,” FPL’s statement quoted its president and CEO Eric Silagy as saying. “I believe this one-time bill decrease is the most effective way to infuse customers with muchneeded money as we all navigate through this difficult and unsettling time together.”

FPL is also suspending electrical disconnections, giving customers extensions on their payment due dates and waiving some late fees for customers “in a hardship situation” while Florida is under a state of emergency.