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Elia: Hillsborough Schools Can't Afford Proposed TECO Hike

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By RUSSELL RAY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 23, 2008

TAMPA - Tampa Electric Co's proposal to raise base electric rates and fuel costs could hit the county school system hard.

Hillsborough County schools Superintendent MaryEllen Elia says the school district can't afford Tampa Electric Co.'s plan to raise base electric rates and fuel costs.

The district's electricity costs would rise by an estimated $10 million to $12 million annually if state regulators approve TECO's requests, Elia said during a public hearing held Tuesday by the Public Service Commision.

An increase of that size would force the district, which is facing a $30 million to $40 million decrease in funding next year, to trim its education budget.

"We're going to end up having to take away services to 191,000 families," Elia told commissioners.

Tampa Electric's current base rate is $51.92 for 1,000 kilowatt-hours. The rate would rise 18 percent to $61.29 for the same amount of power under TECO's proposal. The increase, if approved, would add about $10 to the cost of 1,000 kilowatt hours.

In addition to increasing its base rates, the utility also wants to increase consumer fuel costs by 22 percent to cover the higher cost of coal and natural gas.

Together, the fuel and base rate increases would boost the electric bill for an average homeowner by 21 percent in May.

The increases could force the school district to cut back on teachers and technology, Elia said.

"School districts are different kinds of customers," she said. "We can't pass this rate increase on to anybody."

TECO hasn't raised base rates since 1992. Since then, the company has added 200,000 customers, invested $3.4 billion in new projects and seen operating costs soar.

"Since our last base rate increase in 1992, inflation has gone up 48 percent," Dee Brown, TECO's vice president of regulatory affairs, told the PSC.

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