Electric Bills Reduced with Help from Local Utilities

ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 10, 2015 – Electric customers are reducing their monthly power bills thanks to free energy-saving products and valuable rebates distributed in 2015 by 13 municipal electric utilities in Florida.

“Locally owned electric utilities understand that keeping electric bills affordable is important to our customers, so we’re pleased to offer tools to help them save electricity,” said Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) General Manager and CEO Nicholas P. Guarriello.

Electric customers in Bushnell, Clewiston, Fort Meade, Fort Pierce, Green Cove Springs, Town of Havana, Jacksonville Beach, Key West, Kissimmee, Leesburg, Newberry, Ocala and Starke reduced their utility bills during the 2015 fiscal year thanks to:

• More than $450,000 in rebates to customers for more than 3,500 energy-saving products
• 1,120 free energy-saving kits
• Free residential energy audits
• Commercial lighting upgrades, LED street-light conversion projects and other unique programs in select cities

Customers can save nearly 1.5 million kilowatt-hours per year thanks to these programs, enough electricity to serve a small town for a month and potentially save a total of more than $180,000 dollars per year. An average household uses approximately 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month.

“While the actions we’re encouraging customers to take seem small, like changing a light bulb or installing a programmable thermostat, they add up to big results statewide,” Guarriello said.

The giveaways and rebates were funded by FMPA’s All-Requirements Project energy conservation fund. The fund allows participating municipal electric utilities to develop conservation programs that meet their communities’ individual needs. FMPA’s All-Requirements cities created the fund in 2008 as part of the Agency’s Greener Communities, Greener World initiative. In seven years, the fund has helped customers make energy-saving improvements that could save more than 18.3 million kilowatt-hours per year, or 154 million kilowatt-hours over the life of the products purchased or measures taken.

#    #   #

Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) is a wholesale power company owned by 31 municipal electric utilities. FMPA provides economies of scale in power generation and related services to support community-owned electric utilities. The members of FMPA serve approximately two million Floridians.