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By Mike Hernandez, Pembroke Pines Commissioner
Florida Power & Light (FPL) has requested yet another rate increase be approved by the Public Service Commission (PSC), the state board that regulates utilities, justifying it as necessary for investments in infrastructure. In a press release announcing its request, the company’s CEO, Armando Pimentel, correctly notes that FPL has solid reliability in a fast-growing state and is committed to building more solar and clean energy. They are to be commended for that.
However, it was just four years ago that FPL requested a rate increase that ultimately ended in a settlement — and with the state Supreme Court writing that the PSC failed to thoroughly explain why the increase was in the public interest or how it was legally justified.
For Century Village — a vibrant adult independent living condominium community of approximately 13,000 residents mostly living on fixed incomes that I have the honor of representing — this increase would not just mean between $10 and $20 more on residents’ monthly bill. Many residents tell me the increase, along with other rising costs, would make it very difficult to make ends meet.
Since state law changed after the Surfside tragedy, monthly fees for Century Village’s residents have doubled from approximately $350 to north of $700. And after a small reduction in the fourth quarter of 2024, the Sun Sentinel reported that insurance premiums for condos rose again during the first quarter of 2025. Many residents that I represent have shared with me that they could not afford one dollar more per month in expenses. That was actually the main reason why so many of our city voters rejected our proposed $230 million general obligation bond this past March.
Many Century Village residents are also AARP members, and that organization is firmly against the increase.
In 2024, Florida Power & Light (FPL) reported a net income of $4.543 billion — nearly identical to the $4.552 billion it earned the previous year. Despite earning record-breaking profits and benefiting from a rate increase from the settlement of its 2021 increase request, the company is now asking the PSC for what is reported to be the largest ever rate increase. Working families and seniors across Florida are facing rising costs and financial uncertainty while FPL’s earnings are very healthy. This request seems unfair and unnecessary.
I want to avoid the scenario where our elderly residents throughout Pembroke Pines need to choose between paying for electricity or buying other essential goods. I hear every day from seniors in my district who have to choose between affording their prescriptions, food at the grocery store and other essential expenses in this ever changing economy.
I have great respect for FPL because of my professional experience with it. I worked as a contractor for the company’s Regulatory Affairs Department from 2004-2006, including during its much more modest request to increase base rates back then. I traveled to Tallahassee for FPL and attended each PSC hearing.
During different stints in the communications consulting industry, where I continue to work today, I either consulted directly for FPL or a trade group representing utilities with nuclear energy facilities, including FPL. In my time as the director of communications for former Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Giménez, I was in the county’s Emergency Operations Center for weeks with FPL executives and team members before, during and after Hurricane Irma. They are hard-working professionals, and I appreciated their partnership.
FPL employees are also our neighbors. They understand the needs of our communities, and that is why I am hopeful there is still an opportunity to change direction.
FPL has an opportunity to amend, postpone or withdraw its rate increase request and prove to seniors that their voices and concerns about escalating costs related to energy service are important to the company. I hope the company’s leadership will see the value in holding off on or reducing its rate increase request. FPL will continue to earn very healthy profits, and its shareholders can afford for the company’s stock price to rise slightly less than they would like. It would be a win for Pembroke Pines seniors — and FPL.
Mike Hernández serves as vice mayor for the city of Pembroke Pines and commissioner for District 4.
