ORLANDO, Fla. — Many who start the happy new year are not so happy about the electric bills they’ll be seeing in 2023.

What You Need To Know

  •  FPL and Duke customers prepare for rate increases

  •  New rates take effect Sunday

  •  Rates approved by the Florida Public Service Commission

Both FPL and Duke Energy customers will see increases after the Florida Public Service Commission approved the increases.

On average, per 1000 kilowatt hour usage, FPL customers rates will increase about five dollars. For Duke customers, they’ll see an increase amount of at least $20.

The Tocco family in Orange County has decorations up for three entire months of the year. Halloween means all of October, and then once Halloween ends, Christmas decorating begins.

The family has three young kids. The lights on their house get bigger and bigger every year, simply because it brings so much joy to their family and neighbors.

“Probably thousands of lights,” Chris Tocco says, looking at his Orange County home. “A lot of strands, the electrical outlets probably a good 20. Different outlets plugged in to various sockets because they all pop the breakers.”

The lights were up all of November and all of December. The electric bill didn’t break the bank, but the Toccos saw an increase from their average monthly bill of about $40.

With the continuous increases over the past couple of years, the Toccos have seen enough. Now they are putting in the energy to make a switch to solar.

“Hopefully reduce that price that Duke has to get paid every month, cause it keeps going up,” the father of three explains. “There’s no stopping.”

According to the Energy Information Administration, more than a quarter, nearly 27% of the energy consumed in Florida homes is for air conditioning. That is four times more than the national average.

The Tocco’s bill for their two story home on average, is not the Duke monthly average of about $150. They estimate over the summer it was at least twice that much.

The holiday season is now over, and in comes a new year, with new electric rates for the Toccos, their neighbors, and thousands more.

To give you an idea of who does have an average electric bill of about $125 to $150 a month. Mostly two-bedroom apartments or homes up to 1600 square feet. Bigger the home, bigger the bill, and if you have a pool with a pump, the bill gets even bigger.