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Gulf Power Rates Go Up, Alabama Power Down
January 21, 2010
Those post-freezing weather power bills are starting to arrive in mailboxes, and the bottom line may not be pretty for some.
In addition to higher bills caused by heating during 12 consecutive nights of freezing weather, January Gulf Power bills also include a rate increase. The news is a little better for Alabama Power customers, because those bills will actually reflect a rate decrease.
For ways to get assistance with your Gulf Power bill, click here.
Gulf Power
Gulf power customers will see a 1.5 percent increase on their electric bill as compared to January 2009.
“At the beginning of 2009, the average home using 1,000 kilowatt hours would have cost $124.10,” said Sandy Sims, Gulf Power public affairs manager, “and at the beginning of 2010 the same amount of electricity will cost $126.17. We realize that’s not insignificant in these economic times, but these environmental upgrades are necessary to continue to meet and exceed the state’s stringent environmental laws.”
About two years ago, that same 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity was $70.29. A series of rate increases over the past two years were approved by the PSC due to rising fuel costs.
The most recent 1.5 percent increase, offset by lower fuel and purchased power costs during the year, is due primarily to a new $500 million scrubber system at the Crist Plant in Pensacola that is designed to reduce emissions upwards of 90 percent.
Beginning in 2010, the new scrubber system — Gulf Power’s most significant environmental project ever — will be operational at Plant Crist. This project also allows the company to use all of the treated wastewater from the new ECUA plant, creating a zero discharge wastewater treatment facility and helping to improve the area waterways.
The costs associated with the environmental controls were offset by a reduction of approximately 6.5 percent in the cost of fuel and purchased power costs during the year and the removal of a $2.57 storm surcharge.
Alabama Power
Alabama Power customers will see a decrease in their electric rates beginning this month.
The Alabama Public Service Commission voted Tuesday for a 4 percent rate decrease for Alabama Power’s residential customers. The average bill for a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatts of electricity per month will drop from $125.34 to $120.77 per month.
The PSC approved the rate decrease due to declining prices for coal and natural gas used by Alabama Power to generate electricity.
Comments
17 Responses to “Gulf Power Rates Go Up, Alabama Power Down”
All of this venting is great, but what can we actually do to stop the Gulf Power Monopoly? This company will keep wielding it’s “power” until they get some competition. They have absolutely no reason to give us reasonable prices nor decent customer service. I am sure they are using a sizable amount of their profits to lobby to keep competition out. This company and the politicians who support it are unamerican, and consumers are powerless to do anything about it.
Well, you can MOSTLY thank Charlie Crist and the Florida PSC for their complicity with the EPA nut-jobs. That $650 million scrubber is way beyond what the people of northwest Florida could afford. The poorer among us could barely afford the power bill before the increases and now we ALL can’t afford it! If you haven’t noticed, it’s gone from 7 cents a KWH in 2007 to 10 cents a KWH in 2010. That’s more like a 30 percent increase in just the last 3 years. Gee, I wish my paycheck rose that much! Charlie should be run out on a rail. He’s shown his commitment to NW Florida and the rest of the state. Don’t vote for that turncoat in ANY race! We can’t afford him!
gulf power is a rip off what are we to do? hope for some compettion, or the state to help.power sucks, so does greedy
My husband and I live in Birmingham, AL. Our rates have also more than doubled from month to month from November to February. This “4% decrease” is an absolute joke!! We are all monopolized by the southern company (AL power, GA power, MS power, Gulf power, etc) Yet, I thought monopolies were ILLEGAL in the U.S. The southern company has ABSOLUTELY NO competition in the southeast! Until it has some sense of true competition they will continue to rob from the poor to give bonuses to the rich! If anyone knows of another alternative to Alabama power, I am ALL EARS!!
My Mother’s has home in Mary Esther, FL. She elderly and lives alone. Her thinking is from the old school. She rarely ever uses the heater, water heater, lights, etc. So much that I complain every time I visit her house that she does not need to live like that.
Well, thanks to Gulf Power she has to now. Her past 3 monthly bills:
Nov: $95 (actual) / $44 (fuel charge)
Dec: $159 (actual) / $77 (fuel charge)
Jan: $289 (actual) / $127 (fuel charge)
None of this makes any sense Gulf Power. This is a single elderly person, the most energy efficient person I know. Who does not turn anything on unless it is absolutely needed. There is no way to justify this to me. How can you double, much less triple someone’s bill (in the past three months) in this manner?
Gulf Power = JOKE, SCAM, RIPOFF
My power bill averaged around 170. Then the December bill jumped to right around 400. Just got the January bill and it was 638! I’m in Birmingham, AL in approx. 2100 sf house. We have an all electric heat pump and when temperatures drop below freezing they really don’t work and start relying on back up heating strips that essentially makes it one big space heater. That is why in the Norh you rarely see heat pumps because they don’t work well enough in freezing weather. Now I believe the best route to go is turn off the heat in the rest of the house except the room you’re sleeping in at night. Just get a little space heater. That’s what I’m gonna try. Wish me luck!
This is outrageous! Our bill went from $166 for November to $454 for December! This is way more than 1.5% increase! Try 250%!!! The citizens of Pensacola have to get together and stand against this exploitation. My parents live in Cleveland, OH–and have all their lives–and they have never had an electric bill anywhere close to $454–so it isn’t the cold temperatures that is causing this financial blow. Something has to be done. If everyone refused to pay their bill for 1 month, Gulf Power would go bankrupt.
my co-workers & i was talking about the increase. i had told them a week ago my bill jumped from $60 to $174 & i thought i had missed my pymt. then i was ask from a co-worker about my bill & the conversation took off to every employer work about how their bill jumped. 1.5 is not showing on our bills…is that a typo?? the reason we think this is a typo is evry1 bill doubled! we work for a compnay that deals w nothing but numbers (#’s) & i think we all know how to calculate. Gup Power is the only company in SW Florida so they can do whatever they please 7 we can’t do anything about it! TIMES ARE HARD AS IT IS LIVING PAY CHECK TO PAY CHECK FOR THE ONES OF US WHO ARE EMPLOYED!
My bill went from 285.00 one month then 400.00 plus and this last bill was
507.65 that is a lot money too keep warn so we will put on extra clothes turn the
the heat OFF and go to bed earlier with god help may be it will go down yes with gods help ( MAN ONLY HELPS HIMSELF)
They want to be POWER HOGS!!! The Bible talks about being GREEDY!!!!! My bill went up too and I was floored!!! I guess I will to take up another job or sell a kidney, arm or leg!!!!! I just know that Feburary is going to very dark at my house!
Ours went from 140 to 298 january.
I thought it was just us. I thought I was forgetting to turn it down.
Sorry your all having so much trouble.
Well watch out, because some in Pensacola are talking up GPs Susan Story as a political candidate for who knows what position.
Didn’t GP increase rates by about 25% last year in two seperate rate increases?
The PSC is indeed another joke. Gulf Power turbines and Generators are old. They have paid for themselves manytimes over. Power plants of their vintage are designed for a life span of 30 year. But they will run much, much longer than that with engineering recertification and upgrades and mod increase output. Yeah they have the normal operating and overhead.
That said wehn Gulf Power was built they a given a protected territory and cost base spread out over maybe those 30 years. Now to stay environmentally compliant they are passing on the cost to you. Something is wrong with that. It is like you have to replace your central heat because it is outdated and then you charge everyone who comes to your house. Transmission line and high tension grids are not be updated either. There are altenative power sources available to Gulf Power and even the city of Pensacola. Since the power industry is deregulated why not source electrical power from Calpine in Santa Rosa county or build a city owned power plant? Gulf power is a monopoly indeed. The PSC is in a different world in Tallahassee
My power bill went from $235 in December to $489 in January. I don’t know what I will do, other than sit in the dark in February.
My bill went from $200 to $430. I never had the heat higher than 68 degrees and turned it way down at night. Ridiculous….
My went up about $60.00 but I’m on Gulf Power not EREC
Looking at the paltry $2.07 increase for the average home using 1000KW I can only laugh helplessly. There’s absolutely no way that the increase to my home was only 1.5%. Even with the freezing temps, I just can’t fathom how my power bill could go from $218 to $530 in one month. During this time we had a fire going to try to keep the usage on our heating system down. Most everyone I’ve talked to has had their bills double also. How much was your bill? Why are we still putting up with this monopoly?