Tampa Bay energy roundup

There's a bunch of energy news around Tampa Bay in the last few weeks. Rate increases are coming so fast and thick it's hard to keep track of what it's all for.

Let's start with this week's news. Tomorrow, Progress Energy and Florida Power & Light, as well as some smaller Florida utilities, will ask the Public Service Commission for a rate increase for fuel. (My story in Sunday's paper explained why fuel is getting so expensive.) The gist is that utilities are not allowed to profit from fuel. It's a "pass through" charge. If approved, it will hit bills on Aug. 1.

Tampa Electric isn't asking for a fuel rate increase yet, but it has asked for a base rate increase. Utilities can profit from base rates. (From a shareholder point of view, utilities had better show a profit.) Tampa Electric and Peoples Gas, both owned by Tampa-based TECO Energy, requested base rate increases that it hopes to add to bills by next May.

As if this news isn't enough of a bummer, there are more increases on the horizon. First, fuel again. Every Fall, the utilities estimate what they will pay for fuel the following year. Fuel costs are up nationwide, and Florida is no different. (If a hurricane hits the Gulf coast, fuel costs could get a lot worse.) Progress Energy has already predicted that it will ask for additional fuel rate increases that will start in January. (This is on top of the increase sought Tuesday.) Expect similar news from Tampa Electric, Florida Power & Light, and pretty much every utility that buys fuel to run its power plants (i.e., every utility.)

It doesn't end there. Both Progress Energy and Florida Power & Light want to start charging customers for their new multi-billion nuclear projects. Progress Energy plans to build two nuclear reactors in Levy County, plus hundreds of miles of new transmission lines at a cost of $17-billion. A state law passed in 2006 lets utilities charge customers for some of the costs of building a nuclear plant years before the plant starts producing electricity. If approved in mid-July, customers could start seeing $7.05 per 1,000 kilowatt hours on their bill as of Jan. 1.

There's more. Progress Energy has installed some clean air scrubbers at the coal power plants at Crystal River. It has also converted some plants from oil to natural gas. The scrubbers help prevent pollution that causes smog, acid rain and ozone. Customers can expect to start paying for that work next year, too. (Tampa Electric customers are already paying for similar improvements by that utility.)

Sorry -- there's still more. Tampa Electric, Florida Power & Light and Progress Energy plan to build new natural gas plants. When a utility builds new plants, it is allowed to charge customers for the cost of construction plus a "rate of return," i.e. profit. Look for that bill in the years ahead.

-Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer