Ups and downs of power rates

By ROBERT TRIGAUX

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 26, 2000

Carolina Power & Light wants to raise the electric rates it charges North Carolina customers.

CP&L's request for higher rates is so hefty, it's prompted North Carolina regulators to call the increase "significantly more than we've seen historically."

At first glance, that's not the type of aggressive rate-bumping Floridians want to see in a company that's about to take control of most of the electricity business in Central Florida. CP&L, of course, is buying Florida Progress Corp. of St. Petersburg and its Florida Power utility.

Could there be a silver lining here?

With the rate increase, North Carolina residents will pay CP&L about $83 for 1,000 kilowatt hours a month of electricity. That's still less than what Floridians pay Florida Power for electricity. Florida Power charges $86.72, or nearly $4 more, for the same amount of electricity.

But here's where it gets more interesting. Florida Power's electric rates have spiraled higher by nearly $15 per 1,000 kwh in the past decade. CP&L's rates actually are lower this year, by about $1 (even after the pending rate increase), than they were a decade ago.

Maybe CP&L's takeover of Florida Power will help Floridians at least see more stable, if not lower, electric rates in the future.

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