PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

More than 500,000 homes and businesses in West Virginia would see their electricity bills increase for a year to extend the life of a coal-fired power plant on the brink of closure.

Florida Power & Light customers could face increased electric bills in April after the utility got hit in 2022 by hurricanes and higher-than-expected natural gas costs.

Florida residents and businesses likely will get hit with higher electric bills in 2023 as utilities continue to struggle with increased costs of natural gas.

The state Public Service Commission should approve a plan to add another area code in Northeast Florida, commission staff members recommended Thursday.

Zimbabwe’s government says it will stop paying salaries of staff who are unvaccinated against COVID-19, while ordering those who have received jabs to report for work at their offices “with immediate effect,” after more than a year of most government employees working from home.

Zimbabwe has told all government employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or they will not be allowed to come to work.

Floridians continue to disconnect telephone landlines and go wireless, with the COVID-19 pandemic giving an extra push to the shift.

Electricity costs for Florida Power and Light customers could go up by nearly 20% over the next four years if approved by the Public Service Commission.

With natural gas costing more than expected, Florida Power & Light customers will see increases in their monthly bills starting in May.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Customers of Florida Power & Light and Gulf Power will see slightly higher electric bills in January, after the state Public Service Commission on Tuesday approved a series of costs that will be passed along by the utilities. Gulf residential customers who use 1,000 kilowatt hours a month will see their bills inch up from $140.43 to $140.62. The Public Service Commission held a hearing Tuesday on projected utility costs for such things as power-plant fuel. Tampa Electric Co. announced Tuesday that its residential customers who use 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month will see bills go from $97.69 to $105.25 in January. Also Wednesday, the Public Service Commission said customers of Florida Public Utilities Co. will see reductions in their bills in January.

ATLANTA – The shadow of two nuclear reactors that Georgia Power Co. is building near Waynesboro hangs over two statewide elections for the Georgia Public Service Commission. Electric customers statewide and even in Jacksonville will help pay for Plant Vogtle, as Georgia Power has contracts to provide power from the plant around the Southeast. In District 1, Republican Jason Shaw is seeking a full six-year term after the former state lawmaker was appointed by Gov. Wilson said it’s unfair for Georgia Power to buy excess solar cheaply from rooftop generation and then sell it to other customers at higher expense. “I will give Georgia Power credit for offering a repayment plan,” Blackman said.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Power & Light has asked state regulators to approve a proposal that would offer bill credits to certain small businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposal, filed Thursday at the state Public Service Commission, would provide 10 percent credits on energy charges and could take effect in December. It would be available to new small businesses, small businesses that resume operations after being inactive for six months and small businesses located in what are known as “Opportunity Zones” under federal law. Those zones generally are in economically distressed areas. But with utilities resuming disconnections in recent weeks, the Public Service Commission this month rejected a proposal that would have halted many electricity shut-offs for at least 90 days.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The state Public Service Commission on Tuesday approved a plan by Florida Power & Light to speed up refunds of deposits for tens of thousands of customers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. FPL announced the plan last month as part of steps that also included providing bill credits of up to $200 to some residential and small-business customers. FPL said in its filing that the move to speed up refunds of deposits would return $9 million to $11 million to 50,000 to 60,000 residential customers. Ordinarily, deposits are refunded after 23 months to customers with good payment records. The plan is a one-time move that will shorten the period to 12 months.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Amid concerns that the 850 area code will "exhaust" in 2022, state regulators are considering a proposal that could lead to an additional area code in Northwest Florida. Staff members of the state Public Service Commission will hold a workshop Sept. 6 after receiving a petition aimed at addressing a shortage of remaining phone numbers in the region served by the 850 area code. The North American Numbering Plan Administrator, an organization that works on area-code planning, filed a petition in June with the Public Service Commission saying that the 850 area code will "exhaust" during the first quarter of 2022. The petition recommends approval of what is known as overlay, which would involve assigning a new area code to the same area covered by the 850 area code. The Public Service Commission would ultimately have to sign off on a new area code, as it did last year when it approved a new 689 area code for parts of Central Florida.

Federal program Energy Star did not have Floridians in mind when it made recommendations for in-home air conditioners. The program recommends to help keep costs down, you might try to skimp on the AC but that can create squabbles in the family over which temperature setting is more comfortable. Energy Star, a joint federal program run by the DOE and the Environmental Protection Agency, recommends that for optimal cooling and energy efficiency, the coolest you should keep your house is 78 Fand thats only when youre at home and awake. If you arent comfortable at 78 F, lower the temperature a degree at a time and let your system reach the new setting before ratcheting it down further. If you find these temperatures appalling, Florida's Public Service Commission also recommended keeping your thermostat at 78 degrees and raising it a few degrees when you leave for the day.

The utilities involved in the hearing are Florida Power & Light, Duke Energy Florida, Tampa Electric Co., Gulf Power, Florida Public Utilities Company, Orlando Utilities Commission and JEA, the municipal utility in Jacksonville. Were looking at this from an energy efficiency being done the right way and being done efficiently, Orlove said. I think setting zero goals, I dont think is the right way to go. We have some ratepayers that are in favor of more energy efficiency. We have some that are not in favor of more energy efficiency, Kelly said.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - After receiving a request from the state Office of Public Counsel, regulators will hold a full hearing in October on a major solar-energy proposal by Florida Power & Light. The state Public Service Commission posted an order Friday that said an administrative hearing will be held Oct. 15 and Oct. 16 on FPLs proposed SolarTogether program. Public Service Commission staff members were expected to issue a recommendation July 25 about whether the commission should approve the proposal. But the Office of Public Counsel, which represents consumers on utility issues, filed a request last month for the commission to hold a full administrative hearing before deciding whether to give approval. But Public Service Commission member Gary Clark, who is serving as a prehearing officer on the proposal, issued an order Friday that included the dates for the administrative hearing and detailed procedural deadlines.