I drive an electric car (electric vehicle, or EV). I have to charge the batteries. An argument against what I'm doing is that the electricity I'm putting into my batteries comes from an electrical network that relies on burning fossil fuels. And I agree that's true. I counter with 1) my electric car is much more energy efficient than is a gasoline car, and results in less production of greenhouse gases than would a gas car, and 2) FPL has the choice to produce electricity by some means other than burning gas, oil, or coal. People who drive gas (internal combustion engine, or ICE) cars don't have a choice.
I also have solar panels on my house. And the argument against my relying on them, apart from what environmental damage is reportedly done to make the solar panels, which is like the argument about what happens to eventually spent and unrevivable batteries for my EV, is that they don't produce electricity at night, or not as much when it's overcast. So I'm relying on FPL at those times anyway. That's true, too, but again, FPL has a choice about how to create electricity. They can burn stuff that will damage the environment and all the living things that rely on it, or they can find some other way of creating electricity.
(I should also note that I have on order a new EV, and it will have solar panels on it, and reportedly enough to put 45 miles of power per day into the batteries. Unless I take a long trip -- the car I ordered has a range of "400 miles," which will mean about 200-300 miles -- I'll never plug in to charge the car with electricity.)
So, I got an e-mail a few days ago from FPL. It let me know FPL was making a surcharge of just over $23 to cover for something or other due to hurricane damage in central and north Florida (but not here), and that my regular monthly bill will be going up for another reason.
After I got the solar panels on my house in the fall of 2019, my monthly bill quickly enough dropped to $10.05 per month, every month, all year. This was FPL's state-permitted minimum monthly bill. My net usage -- amount used against amount created -- was negative, in the sense that I created more electricity on a daily or weekly or monthly basis than I used. As a contrast, my daughter lives in Massachusetts, where they do not allow the electric company to charge a minimum monthly amount. My daughter and son-in-law have solar panels, as I do, although not as many as I have. Their electric bill is frequently zero, and they occasionally get a small check from the electric company, which is effectively buying their excess electricity, which it sells to other people.
In 2022, FPL greased enough legislative palms to get permission to triple their minimum monthly bill, so that I was then suddenly paying $30.17 per month. Every month. All year. But now, FPL has raised rates again.
The e-mail I got a few days ago mentioned solar panels, but it was a very ambiguous e-mail, and I had the impression FPL was increasing the bill on people like me, who had solar panels, to punish us for not buying enough electricity from FPL. I tried to contact them for clarification, but they have constructed a system whereby you can't talk to anyone. But today, I got another e-mail from FPL. This e-mail reiterated the current increase -- to just over $41 per month -- and said there'd be another small increase beginning next month. And this time, they explained why they've decided to pick the pockets of their customers. They're getting solar panels.
After all this time of avoiding doing the obvious, that will be cleaner and cheaper, and overcharging their customers for the fact that they have steadfastly refused to do what they should do, so they can continue to make a great deal of money, they've decided to modernize. And we, their customers, have to pay them to do what they could easily afford to do themselves. Because they bribe the state legislature to direct the PSC to let them take what they want.
Helluva system. Helluva legislature. Helluva state.
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