Mainstream Media Promised You $33 Off Your Power Bill. January Will Deliver 95 Cents.

Tidings Media · November 5, 2026

If you caught the local news this week, you may have started planning what to do with your electric savings. Duke Energy customers "will see a $33 decrease in January," WFLA told viewers after the Florida Public Service Commission approved 2027 rates for Duke Energy Florida and Tampa Electric.[1] Hold off on the shopping trip. For a household using 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month, the benchmark regulators and utilities use, a Duke bill will fall about .95 cents between December and January, and a TECO bill will fall $2.25.[1][2][3] The $33 is real, but it measures January 2027 against January 2026, and Duke's own release says so. Somewhere between the press release and the broadcast, the words "compared to January 2026" fell off, and with them went the fact that customers have already been enjoying those savings since February 2026.[3][4]

Tampa Electric

TECO says the commission voted unanimously to lower residential bills 1.4 percent starting in January, taking the typical 1,000-kWh bill from $156.43 today to $154.18.[1][2] That is a nickel more than the $154.13 the company asked for in September, when it proposed a 1.5 percent reduction.[5] Commercial and industrial customers will see cuts of 1.5 to 6 percent depending on usage.[6] The driver is natural gas. Fuel makes up about a fifth of a residential bill, and TECO passes fuel costs through without a markup, so when gas comes in cheaper than forecast the savings go to customers.[6] "Every opportunity to lower our customers' bills matters," said Archie Collins, Tampa Electric's president and CEO.[1]

The bigger change for TECO customers came in August. That month the utility dropped the storm recovery charge it had been collecting since March 2025 to pay for restoring power after hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton, a surcharge the commission set up to recover about $466.7 million over 18 months.[7][8] TECO finished collecting a month ahead of schedule, and removing the charge took about $20 off a 1,000-kWh bill, a reduction of roughly 11 to 12 percent.[7] Households that use more power saved proportionally more, about $40 a month at 2,000 kWh, while customers on Budget Billing see the change phased in gradually rather than all at once.[9] Taken together, a TECO customer's January 2027 bill at 1,000 kWh will be about $22.71 lower than in January 2026, when the typical bill rose to $176.89. That is a drop of nearly 13 percent in a year.[10]

Duke Energy Florida

Duke's approval brings a smaller January change. The company says a typical residential bill will be about 95 cents lower in January than in December, a bit better than the 71-cent reduction it proposed in September.[3][11] A Duke spokeswoman put the December 2026 bill at $165.35 for 1,000 kWh, which puts January at roughly $164.40.[12] Commercial and industrial customers will pay 0.9 to 3.8 percent less.[3] "Duke Energy Florida is committed to delivering real, tangible value for the essential service we provide," said Melissa Seixas, the company's Florida state president.[3]

So where did the $33 come from? Nearly all of it showed up nine months ago, in February, when Duke ended its storm cost recovery charge, tied to about $1.1 billion in restoration work after the 2024 hurricanes, a month earlier than planned. Removing it cut about $33 from a 1,000-kWh bill.[4] Duke customers have been paying the lower amount ever since, which makes this the second time the same $33 has been announced as good news. Anyone expecting their January bill to look $33 lighter than December's is going to be disappointed by roughly $32.

The coverage also promised a bonus $10 decrease per 1,000 kWh in March 2027. That one has been announced before, too. It is Duke's seasonal pricing, which the company applies every March through November when air conditioning pushes usage up, and it goes away again each December.[4][13] Customers got the same seasonal cut in March 2026, when it was worth $11.[4] In other words, the March headline describes a discount that returns every spring, and this year it is a dollar smaller.

Why Duke's base rate held steady

Duke's 2024 rate settlement allowed base-rate increases in 2025 and 2026 and set the framework through 2027, with roughly $50 million in federal investment tax credits to be used in place of a revenue increase in the final year.[15] In July, Duke said it would deliver that by returning the tax credits from its Powerline battery storage project to customers over one year instead of the standard 15, avoiding a 2 percent base-rate increase and producing about $50 million in customer savings in 2027.[14] Fuel costs are also falling for Duke next year, while charges tied to strengthening the grid rise slightly.[11]

What comes next

In January, the typical TECO bill at 1,000 kWh will run about $10 less than Duke's. Both companies are now in the last year of their current base-rate arrangements. Duke's settlement includes a stay-out on base-rate increases that expires at the end of 2027, and TECO's 2024 rate case set its base rates for 2025 through 2027.[15][2] Fuel charges are reset every year and remain the part of the bill most exposed to swings in natural gas prices. Duke customers who need help with a bill can find payment plans and assistance programs at duke-energy.com/HereToHelp.[11]

Notes

1. WFLA, "TECO, Duke Energy customers to see lower rates next year," Nov. 3, 2026. https://www.wfla.com/news/florida/teco-duke-energy-customers-to-see-low…
2. Tampa Electric, "Rates." https://www.tampaelectric.com/rates/
3. Duke Energy Florida, "Duke Energy Florida customers to see lower rates in 2027," news release, Nov. 3, 2026, via StockTitan. https://www.stocktitan.net/news/DUK/duke-energy-florida-customers-to-se…
4. Duke Energy Florida, "Duke Energy Florida announces storm cost recovery charge will be removed from customers' bills a month early," news release, Jan. 14, 2026, via Nasdaq. https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/duke-energy-florida-announces-stor…
5. Tampa Electric, "Tampa Electric Seeks Another Bill Reduction for Customers Beginning in January," Sept. 2026. https://www.tampaelectric.com/mediacenter/2026/Tampa-Electric-Seeks-Ano…
6. Dave Kovaleski, "Tampa Electric to further lower rates in 2027," Daily Energy Insider, Nov. 4, 2026. https://dailyenergyinsider.com/news/54336-tampa-electric-to-further-low…
7. Tampa Electric, "Tampa Electric Storm Recovery Charge Ends One Month Ahead of Schedule," 2026. https://www.tampaelectric.com/mediacenter/2026/Tampa-Electric-Storm-Rec…
8. Florida Public Service Commission, Document No. 03413-2026. https://www.floridapsc.com/library/filings/2026/03413-2026/03413-2026.p…
9. Tampa Electric, customer account portal notice on storm charge savings. https://account.tecoenergy.com/yourprofile/
10. Tampa Electric, "Tampa Electric Files Annual Fuel Costs for 2026," 2025. https://www.tampaelectric.com/mediacenter/2025/Tampa-Electric-Files-Ann…
11. Duke Energy Florida, "Duke Energy Florida requests to lower rates in 2027," news release, Sept. 3, 2026, via Finviz. https://finviz.com/news/388794/duke-energy-florida-requests-to-lower-ra…
12. The Cool Down, "Florida customers could see electric bills drop 71 cents after Duke reverses 2027 rate hike," Sept. 2026, citing the Daytona Beach News-Journal. https://www.thecooldown.com/?p=788245
13. ClickOrlando, "Duke Energy Florida customers to see lower rates next year. Here's how much," Nov. 4, 2026. https://www.clickorlando.com/news/florida/2026/11/04/duke-energy-florid…
14. Duke Energy Florida, "Duke Energy Florida delivers $50 million in customer savings, avoids 2027 base rate increase through innovative tax strategy," news release, July 10, 2026. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/duke-energy-florida-delivers-5…
15. Duke Energy Florida, fact sheet regarding 2024 rate case settlement (Form 8-K exhibit), July 2024. https://bulletin.webull.com/20240715/160772/573f08ef3a3312f941937ac47a8…