Tampa residents air energy cost frustrations at city council meeting

TAMPA, Fla - Frustrated Tampa residents urged city council Thursday to pressure state lawmakers for affordable energy reforms.

"I want to acknowledge that I do understand that this council does not directly vote on utility rate decisions at the state level, but that does not mean that you do not have the power in this moment," Alyssa White, climate justice organizer with Florida Student Power, said during Thursday’s meeting. "As elected leaders of this city, you have a platform. You have influence, and you have a duty and responsibility to represent your constituents. So what can you do? You can apply pressure. You can publicly advocate for your residents and your families and communities. You can call for greater transparency and accountability. And you can stand with us as your community at a time when people are asking to be heard."

The backstory:

In January, TECO hit customers with its fourth rate hike in 13 months.

At the time, TECO told FOX 13 the biggest driver of higher bills over the past year was storm recovery fees following Hurricanes Helene and Milton, adding that the January increase would pay for projects including three energy storage facilities, two solar plants, and improvements to power plants to make them more efficient.

But customers argue they can no longer be the ones footing the bill.

"Our energy bills continue to increase, and our utility regulators are just going to keep approving rate increase after rate increase while we continue to struggle with skyrocketing bills," said Isabella Moeller, Tampa Bay organizer for the nonprofit, Food & Water Watch.

During Thursday’s regular meeting, residents asked city council to pressure state lawmakers in Tallahassee to prioritize affordable energy reforms that would cap how much profit utilities can make off customers, while also forcing the companies to pay their fair share of rising fuel costs.

By the numbers:

The city of Tampa said it’s also feeling the squeeze from utility hikes.

"We heard from the public this morning on rate increases. We’ve been feeling that, too. Everybody has," District 2 councilman Guido Maniscalco said Thursday. "But we’re combating that."

During a presentation, officials revealed the city successfully cut its energy use by 9.3%, which resulted in $296,193 in savings for FY25. However, city staff noted those savings should have been much higher.

"So, in reality, we saved $1.8 million, but we only see $300,000. Now what's that difference? Where did those $1.5 million go? That's where the rate increases and the fees come in. All those fees and storm surcharges and fuel costs and everything added on — including the equity rate, which the utility provider advocates for at the (Florida Public Service Commission) — they reduced those savings for us," Carl Camis-Rosado, energy efficiency and carbon analyst for the city of Tampa, said.

City leaders said solar was a "key part" in helping the city save money. Five city buildings already utilize solar energy, and officials say plans for more are on the way. 

The other side:

TECO sent FOX 13 the following statement:

We know many customers are feeling financial strain right now. We hear them, and relief is on the way.

Today’s cost of $176.89 per 1,000 kWh reflects a temporary storm recovery charge that was put in place after the historic 2024 hurricane season. That charge helps recover about $464 million Tampa Electric spent upfront to restore service, repair significant damage and deploy nearly 9,500 workers who worked around the clock to safely and quickly get the lights back on.

Looking ahead, the storm recovery charge expires this September, and the residential rate will decline roughly 12% for a typical customer.

We understand why higher energy bills are a concern for many of our customers, and we are here to help. For anyone needing assistance, we have flexible payment arrangements available and can connect qualifying customers with financial support. In the past year, we’ve connected 24,000 customers to more than $20 million in financial assistance. We encourage customers to call us or visit TampaElectric.com/PayAssist to learn more about the support options available.

We also offer dozens of programs to help customers lower their bills by saving energy. That includes smart thermostats through programs that can reduce usage while offering lower rates or bill credits. We also offer Budget Billing, which spreads costs over time by averaging past energy use. More information is available at TampaElectric.com/Save.