FPL Electricity Rates in 2026: What Are You Actually Paying?

FPL electricity rates entered 2026 under a new four-year rate agreement approved by the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC). If you want to know what Florida Power & Light actually charges per kWh (kilowatt-hour, the unit on your bill), two things matter right away:

1. An FPL bill is made up of several separate charges, not one rate.
2. September 2026 was a temporarily cheaper month, so it's the wrong month to use as your baseline.

What Is FPL's Typical Bill in 2026?

FPL measures its rates using a typical residential customer in peninsular Florida using 1,000 kWh a month. Under the approved 2026–2029 settlement, that bill moved from $134.14 to $136.64 in January 2026. That's an increase of about $2.50 a month, or roughly 2%.

So FPL rates did go up in 2026, but the approved residential impact was modest compared with many utility increases around the country.

Northwest Florida Is Different

FPL's Northwest Florida customers (the former Gulf Power area) started from a different rate structure. For a typical 1,000-kWh customer there, FPL projected the bill would move from $143.60 to $141.36 in January 2026, which is actually a decrease. Starting in 2027, peninsular and Northwest Florida customers move to the same rates.

So the answer to “how much did FPL rates go up?” depends partly on where you live.

September Was a One-Month Exception

In July 2026, the PSC approved a one-time refund on September bills. FPL had collected slightly more than it needed to recover its 2024 hurricane restoration costs, so about $81.5 million, including interest, went back to customers. For a typical 1,000-kWh customer, that worked out to about $8 off the September bill.

That refund is over. FPL's October 2026 rate sheet goes back to the standard 2026 charges, so October bills return to the normal 2026 level.

What Are FPL's Current Residential Charges?

FPL's standard residential rate (RS-1), effective October 2026, includes:

• Monthly base charge: $10.52 (with a $30 minimum base bill)
• Base energy charge: 7.865¢/kWh for the first 1,000 kWh and 8.865¢/kWh above 1,000 kWh
• Fuel charge: 2.893¢/kWh for the first 1,000 kWh and 3.893¢/kWh above 1,000 kWh
• Storm protection charge: 0.995¢/kWh
• Environmental charge: 0.345¢/kWh
• Conservation charge: 0.148¢/kWh
• Capacity charge: 0.052¢/kWh
• Transition credit: −0.040¢/kWh

Add those per-kWh pieces together and the first 1,000 kWh cost about 12.26¢/kWh before taxes, plus the $10.52 base charge. That's why your effective cost doesn't match any single number on the rate sheet.

Usage Above 1,000 kWh Costs More

FPL charges more once you pass 1,000 kWh in a month. Both the base energy charge and the fuel charge go up by 1¢. So every kWh above 1,000 costs roughly 2¢ more than the first 1,000.

That creates a strong efficiency incentive for high-use Florida homes. Cutting AC, pool or water-heating load in a 1,500-kWh month saves at the higher rate first.

What Will FPL Rates Look Like Through 2029?

FPL published these typical 1,000-kWh peninsular bills under the settlement:

• Before the 2026 plan: $134.14
• January 2026: $136.64
• January 2027: $143.05
• January 2028: $146.24
• December 2029: $148.15

FPL notes the January 2027 figure would be about $143.25 if regulators approve planned solar and battery projects. These numbers include approved base rates plus projected fuel and other non-storm costs that are reviewed every year. They're useful planning estimates, not guaranteed prices.

Better Than an Arbitrary Escalator

A solar proposal might simply assume “5% utility inflation every year.” But FPL already has an approved multi-year framework with published projections. A more credible model:

1. Starts with current, normal 2026 rates (not September).
2. Uses known approved changes where appropriate.
3. Treats fuel as variable.
4. Tests a range of assumptions after 2029.

Why Did FPL Rates Increase?

FPL serves more than 6 million customer accounts, or about 12 million Floridians. It expects to add roughly 335,000 new customers by the end of the decade. The settlement supports investment in new customers, transmission and distribution, reliability, storm hardening and generation. Instead of one enormous single-year jump, it spreads that investment over four years.

Storm Costs Move Separately From Base Rates

Florida utilities recover hurricane restoration costs through separate regulatory proceedings. That means storm-related charges can appear or disappear independently of the four-year base-rate plan, as September's refund showed. The four-year plan also doesn't freeze fuel, environmental, storm or other rider charges, which are reviewed each year.

So always treat base rates and storm and fuel charges as separate questions.

What About Data Centers?

Florida passed a new large-load law in 2026 (CS/CS/SB 484), which took effect July 1, 2026. It covers single-site customers expected to use 50 MW or more at peak, the scale of large data centers and major industrial sites.

The law requires utility tariffs to make those customers pay the full cost of serving them, including connection, incremental transmission and incremental generation. Tariffs can include upfront contributions, minimum demand charges, financial guarantees, take-or-pay terms and minimum contract periods with early-termination fees. The goal: the customer creating the extraordinary cost carries the extraordinary risk.

There's no good basis for calling FPL's roughly 2% 2026 increase a “data center rate increase.” The settlement covers broad statewide growth and reliability.

Compare kWh Before Comparing Dollars

Suppose August 2025 was 1,100 kWh and $150, and August 2026 was 1,600 kWh and $225. It's easy to say “FPL raised my bill $75.” But usage rose about 45%. In Florida, the first place to look is usually air conditioning.

If usage barely changed but the bill rose, look at approved rates, fuel, storm charges and other riders. That's much more likely a price issue.

Florida AC Can Matter More Than a Rate Increase

FPL's approved 2026 change added about $2.50 a month to a typical 1,000-kWh bill. An aging AC that adds 400 unnecessary kWh a month in summer can cost about $50–$60 a month. The HVAC problem can be twenty times bigger than the rate increase.

FPL Also Has a Time-of-Use Rate

FPL offers an optional Residential Time of Use Rider (RTR-1). You stay on the standard RS-1 charges, and FPL adds charges or credits depending on when you use electricity:

• April 1–October 31: on-peak is 12 noon–9 p.m. on weekdays.
• November 1–March 31: on-peak is 6–10 a.m. and 6–10 p.m. on weekdays.
• All other hours, plus major holidays, are off-peak.

The adjustments are large: about +14.410¢/kWh on the base energy charge during peak hours and a −6.157¢/kWh credit off-peak, plus smaller fuel adjustments. Those are added to the normal rate, so 14.4¢ isn't the whole on-peak price.

The summer peak window is nine hours long and overlaps with AC, cooking, afternoon occupancy and pool use. TOU isn't automatically a good deal. You have to be able to move meaningful usage.

Before You Enroll in TOU

• FPL offers a rate analysis before you switch. Ask for it.
• TOU customers can't also be on Budget Billing, On Call or EVolution.
• There's a one-year minimum enrollment.

Good candidates can shift EV charging, the dishwasher, laundry, pool pump scheduling or battery charging outside peak hours. Compare the whole benefit package, not just the kWh rate.

What About EV Owners?

FPL's EVolution Home program bundles a home charger with time-based charging rates. It costs $36 a month with full installation or $27 for equipment only. FPL estimates all-in charging costs of roughly 7¢/kWh off-peak and 28¢/kWh on-peak. If you're adding an EV, review the charging rate options before simply making your solar system bigger.

What About Solar?

Florida still has relatively favorable net metering. Under FPL's program, extra solar becomes kWh credits that carry forward during the year. Leftover credits at year-end are paid at a lower avoided-cost rate. FPL also requires a net-metered system to be estimated to produce less than 115% of your annual usage.

That makes usage history important, and efficiency changes what your future home should consume. Say a home uses 24,000 kWh a year today but would use 18,000 kWh after a new AC, duct repairs and attic insulation. A solar proposal built on the old number may be far larger than needed. Size solar for the efficient future home. Also leave out the old 30% federal solar credit, which doesn't apply to systems installed after 2025.

Battery Storage Has a Different Role in Florida

Because Florida still credits solar fairly well, you don't usually need a battery just to avoid poor export credits. A battery's real value is often hurricane resilience: keeping the refrigerator, internet, medical equipment, selected cooling and well pumps running.

And remember: a standard grid-tied solar system shuts off during an outage. Backup requires a battery, a backup-capable inverter and transfer equipment. Ask directly: “Will this system actually power my house when FPL is down?”

Four FPL Customers, the Same $200 Bill, Different Answers

• Home A: A 17-year-old AC driving huge summer usage. Best first move: HVAC diagnosis.
• Home B: An efficient home, but the EV and pool run at the wrong times. Best first move: rate and load-timing review.
• Home C: An efficient home with steady high usage and a good roof. Best next move may be solar.
• Home D: Existing solar, but the family wants hurricane backup. Best next move may be a battery.

The Best Order for an FPL Customer

1. Normalize the bill. Don't use September's one-time refund month as the baseline.
2. Compare kWh year over year to see whether usage changed.
3. Diagnose HVAC, ducts and insulation, especially if summer use is high.
4. Review TOU or EV rate options if you can shift meaningful loads.
5. Evaluate solar using your efficient future load and current net-metering rules.
6. Evaluate a battery separately for hurricane resilience.
7. Use FPL's approved rate path carefully. Known base-rate changes are useful; fuel is still variable.

The Ashborn Approach

Before recommending equipment, Ashborn Partners looks at your current FPL rate, your region (peninsular vs. Northwest Florida), past kWh use and any temporary storm charges or refunds. We also review HVAC, ductwork, insulation, TOU and EV load. Then we weigh solar, net metering, battery storage and hurricane resilience.

A four-year utility plan tells you what may happen to rates. Your home tells you what to do about it.

FPL tariffs, fuel costs and other adjustments can change. FPL’s typical peninsular 1,000-kWh residential bill benchmark for 2026 is $136.64; September 2026 bills included a one-time storm-cost refund. Projected 2027–2029 bills include forecast fuel and other non-storm costs that are reviewed annually and are not guaranteed.