FPL rates 2026: bill estimates and the AC paradox

Florida Power & Light is the largest US investor-owned utility by customer count, with more than 6 million accounts. The per-kWh rate is moderate (the official typical 1,000 kWh bill is $136.64, about 13.7 cents all-in) but monthly bills run high because Florida household consumption is roughly 25 percent above the US average, almost entirely from AC. This page covers RS-1 standard, RTR-1 time-of-day, storm cost recovery, and the realistic savings strategies given that FPL is a regulated monopoly with no supply shopping.

The FPL bill components, in detail

FPL residential bills break out into a base energy charge plus several cost-recovery clauses that adjust periodically based on actual costs incurred. The base energy charge is set in FPL's most recent base-rate case settlement, approved by the PSC in November 2025 and covering 2026 through 2029. The fuel cost recovery clause adjusts monthly with the cost of natural gas (FPL's primary fuel) and other generation inputs; this is the most volatile component, sometimes adding or subtracting 2 to 4 cents per kWh from the bill in a given month. The capacity cost recovery clause recovers the cost of building or contracting generation capacity. The environmental cost recovery clause recovers the cost of meeting state and federal environmental regulations. The conservation cost recovery clause recovers the cost of FPL's energy efficiency programs.

The all-in result from January 2026 is about 12.3 cents per kWh for the first 1,000 kWh in a month and about 14.3 cents for usage above that (the energy and fuel charges are both tiered at 1,000 kWh), which puts FPL's official typical 1,000 kWh bill at $136.64, up $2.50 from 2025. The monthly base charge ($10.52) is fixed regardless of usage, and accounts whose base electric service costs fall below $30 are billed a $30 minimum. Florida's state sales tax does not apply to residential electricity, though a state gross receipts tax of about 2.6 percent is built into the bill (unlike states such as New York that add city and state sales tax as separate line items).

Why Florida bills run high despite moderate rates

The Florida household paradox is that the per-kWh rate is about 20 percent below the US average, but the monthly bill still lands at or above the US average. The reconciliation is usage. The US average household consumes about 863 kWh per month according to EIA. The Florida average is about 1,107 kWh per month, the second highest in the country after Louisiana. The driver is almost entirely air conditioning: Florida has the longest cooling season in the US and homes typically run AC nine months of the year, peaking at 14 to 18 hours per day in July and August.

A 2,500 square foot home with a 4-ton central AC running 14 hours a day in July uses about 1,500 kWh per month just for the AC, on top of the 400 to 500 kWh for everything else (refrigerator, pool pump, lighting, hot water, electronics). At FPL's 2026 tiered rates, that produces roughly a $270 to $280 monthly bill. A 1,200 square foot apartment with a smaller AC system uses about 600 to 800 kWh per month in summer and produces an $85 to $115 bill. The variation across Florida households is enormous because the AC load varies enormously.

Practical FPL savings strategies for AC-dominated bills

For an AC-dominated bill, the savings opportunity concentrates on the AC system itself rather than on rate-plan optimisation (which is limited in a regulated state with no supply shopping). Five strategies that move the needle. First, raise the thermostat setpoint by 2 to 4 degrees during the day (78 to 80 instead of 74 to 76); each degree above 72 saves about 3 to 5 percent on cooling cost. Second, install a smart thermostat with occupancy and humidity sensing, which can save 10 to 20 percent of cooling cost through scheduling and adaptive control. Third, get a SEER2 rating audit of the existing AC system; replacing a 13 SEER unit from 2005 with a modern 18 SEER unit can cut cooling kWh by 35 to 40 percent. Fourth, add solar attic ventilation and consider radiant barrier in the attic; both reduce the heat load the AC has to fight.

Fifth, switch to RTR-1 time-of-day and shift the pool pump to overnight off-peak hours (a typical 1.5 hp variable-speed pump drawing about 1 kW for 8 hours overnight instead of through the weekday peak window saves about 21 cents on each shifted kWh at 2026 prices, roughly $35 per month in summer). Combined with shifting laundry and dishwasher to off-peak, RTR-1 cuts the bill meaningfully for households that genuinely shift load. The January 2026 rates widened the FPL TOU spread to roughly 4.5:1 (about 27 cents on-peak against about 6 cents off-peak), comparable to California's steepest TOU plans, so the stakes run larger in both directions: households with heavy unavoidable peak-window load can lose money on RTR-1.

Storm cost recovery and the long tail of hurricane bills

Florida hurricane history continues to shape FPL bills. The 2024 season alone (hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton) left about $1.2 billion in restoration costs, plus $150 million to replenish FPL's storm reserve. The Florida Public Service Commission approves recovery of these costs through a temporary surcharge set in a specific docket after each major storm; the 2024-storm surcharge added $12.02 per month to a typical 1,000 kWh bill and ran from January through December 2025. Recovering over a tight 12-month window rather than several years reduces the chance of overlapping surcharges if new storms hit.

As of January 2026 no storm restoration surcharge is active on FPL residential bills: the 2024-storm surcharge expired in December 2025, and FPL's January 2026 residential rate insert lists no restoration line item. What does appear on every bill is the separate storm protection cost recovery clause, 0.995 cents per kWh in 2026 (about $10 a month at 1,000 kWh), which funds grid hardening rather than post-storm repairs. FPL also maintains a storm reserve that absorbs the first portion of any new storm cost; a restoration surcharge is only triggered when costs exceed the reserve, so a new major hurricane would mean a fresh PSC docket and a new temporary surcharge.

Solar Together and net-metering in FPL territory

FPL operates two solar pathways for residential customers. Solar Together is the community solar program: customers subscribe to a share of FPL-built utility-scale solar (in MW or kW units) at a monthly fee, then receive a bill credit as the project produces electricity. Over the 25-year subscription term, the program is designed to roughly break even financially for the subscriber, with the value proposition being renewable-energy participation rather than savings. Solar Together is heavily oversubscribed; the waitlist as of 2026 stretches several years.

For rooftop solar, FPL offers net metering at the standard residential rate up to a system size cap of 2 MW. Florida's solar net-metering rules were the subject of contentious legislative debate in 2022; a proposed reduction to avoided-cost rates was vetoed and the existing retail-rate net metering remains in effect. For a typical 8 kW residential solar installation in FPL territory, payback runs about 8 to 11 years given the federal Investment Tax Credit and current net-metering math, longer than in some sunnier states because Florida's retail rate is lower. Solar plus battery is becoming more common given hurricane resilience considerations; the battery does not improve the financial payback materially under current rules but adds backup power during outages.

FPL vs Duke Energy Florida vs the municipal utilities

FPL serves most of east-coast Florida from Daytona south to Miami and Florida Keys, plus parts of the west coast and central Florida acquired through the 2021 merger with Gulf Power. Duke Energy Florida serves northern and central Florida including Orlando suburbs, Ocala and St. Petersburg. Tampa Electric (TECO) serves the Tampa Bay metro. JEA serves Jacksonville, OUC serves Orlando proper, and a network of municipal and cooperative utilities serves the rest.

FPL residential rates run roughly 5 to 10 percent below Duke Energy Florida rates and slightly above Tampa Electric rates. The municipal utilities (JEA, OUC, Tallahassee Utilities, Gainesville Regional Utilities) generally run at or below the IOU rates because they do not have to generate profits for shareholders. Customers cannot choose their utility (service territory is fixed by Florida PSC), so the comparison is mostly informational; if you are moving within Florida, the utility serving your destination address may produce a noticeably different bill at the same usage level.

Sources and further reading

• FPL rate schedules
• Florida Public Service Commission (rate case dockets, storm cost recovery)
• FPL energy efficiency programs
• FPL Solar Together and net metering
• Florida state electricity cost page
• Cost to run an air conditioner per hour
• Duke Energy rates (multi-state including Florida)
• How we source these numbers

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