Progress Energy hopes to lower its electricity rates

On August 31, 2012, Progress Energy Florida announced that it had asked the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) to lower the average residential customer electricity bill by 6 percent, the St. Petersburg Herald reports.

According to the media outlet, Progress, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, said the decrease comes after the company finished paying for fuel used to generate power. Since fuel is typically the main driver of electricity rate hikes, lower fuel costs will now translate to lower bills for customers.

“Progress Energy Florida is working to manage and mitigate expenses, and we are focused on keeping electric costs as low as possible for the more than 1.6 million households and businesses that depend on us,” said Vincent Dolan, Progress Energy Florida state president. “We are working every day to operate our business more efficiently while continuing to provide our customers increasingly clean, reliable and affordable power now and in the future.”

In addition to better cost management, deregulated energy markets are helping drive down the cost of power. With so many retail energy providers cropping up around the country, many are offering discounts and incentives to switch providers.