No sh*t Sherlock! That is what public utilities do. They are granted a monopoly on providing a public service at a fixed rate of return in exchange for their public service obligation. “Public service obligation” means they can’t decide one day to cut off your power because they don’t like doing business in your area, or had too much storm damage, or have too many people behind on their bills in your neighborhood. Any other type of business is free to do that.
“Fixed rate of return” means when their costs go up, your bills go up, so they can cover their permitted costs plus the regulatorily approved rate of return (usually low, like 3% to 5%). That is why utilities are safe haven stocks in volatile markets.
If you don’t like their rates, in some partially deregulated markets like Texas, you can change electricity provider. But ultimately the power and the infrastructure is built by and paid for by the public utility.
Spent 35 years in the electric utility business. Did dozens of rare cases before various regulatory bodies. Utilities only earn a profit on their capital investments. We call it; Plant In Service. All other expenses such as admin costs, operations and maintenance of distribution, transmission systems and power production facilities, which includes the cost of fuel are direct pass-throughs to the customer.
>> Then they say they are passing the fuel costs on to the consumer without making a profit on them. Only in Florida could a statement like that to consumers of the product you manufacture not be construed as patronizing, condescending, and blatantly dishonest. Why would you need to make a profit on your fuel expenses when the consumer is paying the entire fuel expense for you? <<
You sound like an idiot 18-year-old college student infatuated with communism.
Grow the F** up. Rate increases are approved by legislature. Take your whinging to them.
Unless the utility is state owned it has a right to profit. How they tie that profit to revenue streams(e.g., 1% there, 1.2% over there, etc) is irrelevant. How much total profit they get is approved by legislature.
For complicated reasons, Florida's Public Service Commission has tended to be politically accommodating to investor owned utilities. State law otherwise gives Florida's municipally owned utilities an even freer hand. This tends to assure service but, at times, with inadequate scrutiny of costs charged against consumers. The new way of describing those costs is not a problem though so long as those costs are kept in line.
Notably, in order to harden the state against hurricane damage, Florida is now pushing electric and cable utilities to bury many of their local transmission lines. This is an expensive but popular undertaking and provides a rough measure that service charges by the state's utilities are considered bearable.
Who else would pay for that and how would they pay it? Part of being a regulated utility and being required to follow a lot of government regulations no other industry has is being guaranteed a certain rate of return. Even with deregulation, those concepts are still generally present.
Historically, utilities have usually had a lower rate of return than private, unregulated companies in other businesses. But they are often called the preferred stocks for “widows and orphans.” Why why is that? Because though the rate of return is fairly low, it is virtually guaranteed to be there. Now with deregulation or partial deregulation in some states, utilities have competition. But they still have to make enough money to operate and pay dividends.
And you all want DeSantis in the White House?
You’d better hope DeSantis is in the White House because he is the only person that can keep Trump out of jail.