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Jack Latvala and other lawmakers have strong words for Duke Energy

 
Duke has been collecting $3.2 billion from its 1.7 million Florida customers for two failed nuclear projects with much of the money paid through the "nuclear advance fee''. [CHERIE DIEZ | Times]
Duke has been collecting $3.2 billion from its 1.7 million Florida customers for two failed nuclear projects with much of the money paid through the "nuclear advance fee''. [CHERIE DIEZ | Times]
Published Oct. 1, 2014

Lawmakers fired some of their harshest criticism at Duke Energy Florida on Tuesday, promising legislation that could ban political contributions from utilities and end some "unconscionable" billing practices.

Led by Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, Pinellas County's most powerful legislator, several Republican lawmakers and political candidates gathered for a news conference at a Sonny's Bar-B-Q in Largo to highlight what they said was the latest example of abuse by Duke.

Duke hit the local Sonny's owner, Edward Titen, with an order for a $24,000 deposit — about $17,000 more than the one Titen paid when the service was connected years ago.

Titen argued with Duke over the bill, but got nowhere. Then he called Latvala, who stepped in and prompted Duke to drop the charges.

Latvala said he fears other small businesses may have been harmed by a similar practice by Duke.

"Those of us in public office have been besieged in the last couple of weeks from constituents . . . pertaining to our local investor owned utility," Latvala said. "I'm mad as heck and I'm not going to take it anymore."

It was the latest in a series of billing issues that have caused public outcry about the state's second-largest investor owned utility in recent months, including a meter debacle that has led to $1.3 million in customer credits.

It's all coming to the forefront during a pivotal week for Duke.

On Thursday, the state Public Service Commission will consider a $1.5 billion natural gas plant Duke wants to build at ratepayer expense. The commission also will decide whether to order Duke to credit more than $54 million it collected from ratepayers to purchase nuclear equipment that was never produced for the now-canceled Levy County nuclear project.

In all, customers are on the hook for $3.2 billion related to two nuclear power plants that Duke either broke or canceled. Duke's 1.7 million customers never received a kilowatt of electricity from the plants for that money.

Latvala said he has for years given deference to Duke, trusting the utility to be a good corporate citizen. But after a series of blunders by the utility, he said "enough is enough."

Two state representatives flanked Latvala under a Sonny's restaurant logo and two Republican candidates stood opposite them, sharply criticizing Duke and proposing legislation to increase consumer protections.

Latvala, Rep. Kathleen Peters, R-South Pasadena, and Rep. Larry Ahern, R-St. Petersburg, proposed measures that would:

• Prohibit any utility company from charging customers a higher rate because of an increase in usage due to an extended billing period.

• Clarify how much a utility can receive for deposits and how the amount must be calculated.

• Require anyone who lobbies any member of the Public Service Commission Nominating Council, whether legislator or nonlegislator, to be registered.

• Require any money received by a utility company for certain renewable energy resources to be used solely for those purposes.

Peters said she will be the lead sponsor of the legislation in the House, if she is re-elected. She said what Duke has done "is absolutely unconscionable. . . . It's about time that we were proactive for our consumers."

Other lawmakers are drafting additional measures that Latvala said he would consider adding to his proposals.

Those measures include term limits for commissioners on the PSC and nominations for seats from designated geographical locations; and repeal of the so-called "nuclear advance fee" that allows utilities to collect money from customers for nuclear plants before they produce power.

Latvala said other measures might include the prohibition on campaign contributions as the state does with bond companies.

In response to the proposals, Nicole LeBeau, a Duke spokeswoman, said, "once the legislation is filed, we'll be happy to review it."

As for the Sonny's customer, LeBeau said Duke cannot discuss a customer's account without the customer's permission.

In addition to the deposit issues, the proposed legislation was in part a response to reports in the Tampa Bay Times that detailed how Duke's changes to its meter-reading process has hurt some customers.

Duke is adjusting its meter-reading routes to make them more efficient. Those changes led the utility to temporarily extend as many as 267,000 customers' billing cycles, typically a month, by as many as 12 days. Customer bills revealed additional charges in some cases of $100 or more for the extended days and, for some, the additional days bumped them into a higher rate class.

That's because Duke charges customers $11.34 for every 100 kilowatt hours of usage up to 1,000 kilowatt hours. But above that, it charges $13.70 for every 100 kilowatt hours. That's before taxes and other government fees.

After criticism from lawmakers, Duke decided to issue credits ranging from 2 cents to $23. On Tuesday, Duke said the credits have reached $1.3 million.

Now lawmakers want the PSC on Thursday to order Duke to refund customers the $54 million for the nuclear equipment that was never produced for the Levy nuclear project.

"I will be very disappointed if (the commission) sides with the utility and the staff on that issue," Latvala said. "That's going to continue building a fervor from the people who elect us all. Somebody's going to pay the price."

Contact Ivan Penn at ipenn@tampabay.com or (727) 892-2332. Follow @Consumers_Edge.