Tampa Electric Co. faces a hurricane restoration bill of about $60-million, far more than the $42.7-million it has reserved to pay for such costs, parent TECO Energy Inc. said Friday.
The final bill to restore electricity after Hurricanes Charley and Frances came to about $32-million, more than the previously forecast range of $25-million to $30-million, while Hurricane Jeanne accounted for $28-million in restoration costs, TECO said.
The Tampa utility provided details about its storm costs in its third-quarter earnings report, the results of which were in line with Wall Street expectations.
Exactly how the company plans to make up for the shortfall in its storm damage reserve fund has yet to be determined, TECO spokewoman Laura Plumb said. One possibility is to ask utility regulators for permission to add a surcharge to customers' monthly bills.
TECO said Charley, Frances and Jeanne exacted a financial toll that went beyond the cost of restoring electricity. Power outages caused Tampa Electric to lose an estimated $4.9-million in pretax third-quarter revenue and about $3-million in after-tax net income. In addition, treacherous weather cost TECO's barge and shipping subsidiary, TECO Transport, about $3.8-million in lost revenue and storm-related expenses, and about $2.3-million in net income.
During the three-month period ended Sept. 30, TECO reported net income of $41.3-million, or 21 cents a share, swinging from a net loss of $19.5-million, or 11 cents a share, during the same period last year. The number of common shares outstanding was 8 percent higher in the third quarter than a year earlier. Hurricane-related revenue losses shaved about 3 to 4 cents a share from third-quarter earnings, Plumb said.
Net income from continuing operations was $53.1-million, or 27 cents a share, matching the Thomson First Call consensus analyst estimate, and up from $4.6-million, or 3 cents a share, a year earlier.
Third-quarter revenue totaled $742.3-million, down from $759.1-million a year earlier.
Tampa Electric posted net income of $53.4-million, little changed from $53.3-million during the same period last year. The results were hurt by a $6.4-million after-tax adjustment to reflect the effect of the Florida Public Service Commission's decision in September to require Tampa Electric to absorb a portion of the costs from its controversial coal-transport contract with TECO Transport.
Peoples Gas reported third-quarter net income of $3-million, up slightly from $2.9-million a year earlier.
TECO Transport posted net income of $600,000, down from $2.6-million a year earlier. The results were affected by a $1.1-million after-tax charge for former TECO Transport president Jeff Rankin's retirement package and other management restructuring costs.
TWG Merchant, TECO's unregulated wholesale power business, posted a loss of $6.4-million, improving from a loss of $36-million a year earlier.
TECO's stock closed Friday at $14.05 a share, down 3 cents.
