When the Florida Public Services Commission (a board appointed by Ron Desantis) approved a $1.3 billion price increase over two years for their customers, they promised a mere $15 increase for customers starting in January 2022.
However, what’s unfolded this week has been a hard lesson in trusting a monopoly who funnels dark money into politics when it comes to raising prices.
“My power bill tripled,” “they told me to use space heaters and more blankets,” “we’re cold and can’t pay our bill,” were just some of the comments posted on a forum about FPL’s recent price hike in Northwest Florida, where Gulf Power customers were recently absorbed into FPL.
But without concrete evidence and data, proving the utility isn’t being transparent about its cost increases on residential customers is impossible.
Enter stage left, Florida’s very own scientist and whistleblower who became famous for her work on the state’s public COVID-19 data and surveillance systems.
“If we collect enough data and verify it, FPL can’t lie to our faces and say this didn’t happen,” said Jones, who launched a data portal to do just that one day after bills and disconnect notices starting hitting mailboxes.
Jones contacted local representatives, and other members of the Florida house and senate about emergency measures to temporarily stop disconnections, since surprise bills totaling as much $300 more than usual caught consumers completely off guard.
She provides resources on her website for folks facing disconnects, and personally offered to help those with disconnect notices keep their lights on.
As for the problem with FPL rates?
Jones suggested FPL look into whether or not a bug in their data system popped up when switching from Gulf Power, as most complaints seem to be that the meter usage being reported is far from correct. “It could be either that, which is a much easier fix and can drop people’s bills back down,” she said, “or there’s widespread fraud.”
“I called them to come check my meter to make sure nothing is wrong before I file an price gouging complaint,” said Ashley McGinnis, posting comparisons of her alleged usage at night and the next morning showing an increased rate of consumption uncharacteristic of her normal usage.
Others pointed to how Desantis, Matt Gaetz, and Rep. Andrade (Florida House who seems more interested in getting into bar fights and stalking Jones online than serving his community) all take money from FPL and their other associated PAC, NextEra Energy.
While working with local reps to address the issue, Jones also took on helping families avoid disconnections by paying their past due balances out of her own funds, racking up more than $3,500 in the first 24 hours.
“I have had the utilities shut off on me before when I couldn’t pay the bill,” she said, referring to her low-pay while working as a scientist for the state. “It’s one of the most demoralizing things in the world.”
Jones plans to use the data collected to confront FPL about the costs being forced on consumers and for advocating temporary delays, at a minimum, on disconnections until the problem is resolved. Previous Gulf Power customers can submit their December 2021 and January 2022 bill information here.
And where was Florida’s congressional representative during this? Matt Gaetz was proposing a bill attacking Washington DC for their current vaccine requirements, while his constituents literally freeze due to Republican-backed increases on basic needs.