Electric rates are set by the state.

Progress Energy is a regulated public utility. Therefore, unlike other businesses, we do not set the prices our customers pay. Instead, our rates must be reviewed and approved by the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC).

Your utility bill includes multiple parts.

Your electric bill is actually made up of several cost components, each of which is assessed on its own rate schedule. Some of these cost components include:

• Fuel prices (The cost of fuel needed to run generating plants – this passes directly to the customer without generating any profit for Progress Energy.)
• Compliance with state and federal regulations
• Individual energy usage

Each part of Progress Energy Florida's bill is subject to review and approval by the Florida Public Service Commission. This example shows a detailed breakdown of the various costs using the current 1,000 kWh residential bill. An explanation of each billing component follows.

All rate changes must be approved.

To make any change to rates, Progress Energy must file a request with the PSC, which then goes through a review and approval process.

All clause cost components are reviewed annually and adjusted to reflect changes in the actual costs incurred.

The base rate – the basic rate you pay to cover the production and delivery of electricity – can sometimes stay the same for years.

What your rates pay for.

Here's a breakdown of how a dollar to Progress Energy is spent.

Fuel Costs: The largest part, 50 cents, goes directly to cover the cost of fuels used by our power plants to generate electricity. Progress Energy makes no profit on fuel costs.

Base Rate: The next part, 26 cents, is included in the base rate. This covers Progress Energy's expenses such as the building and maintenance of power plants, lines, poles and other infrastructure, bucket trucks and other equipment, and employees' salaries.

Taxes and Fees: Twelve cents goes directly to taxes and fees. Progress Energy does not keep these tax monies.

Return to Shareholders: Eight cents goes to our shareholders. This ensures that we will be able to continue raising money from our investors for future investments in the infrastructure that serves our customers.

Interest Payments: Last, 4 cents goes to interest to bondholders. One way we keep rates more affordable for our customers is by raising some of our needed funds through the issuance of bonds. This allows us to invest in the new plants, power lines and technology that ensure clean, reliable, affordable power for the future.

How we're working to keep rates affordable.

Controlling fuel costs: The largest single component of your bill is fuel costs. Progress Energy makes no profit on this portion of your bill since it is directly tied to the cost of fuel in today's marketplace. Although we can't control the global factors that affect these costs, we can and do control how efficiently we operate our power plants and delivery systems to use the least amount of fuel possible.

Streamlining our systems: We carefully monitor and control our processes and staffing so we can continue to provide industry-leading service and reliability as cost efficiently as possible.