Shelley says there are several things you can do if you think your power bill is out of hand:

You can request a free energy audit, where a conservation specialist will come out to your house and examine you energy habits, to suggest power saving tips. 

You can request a free meter test, and the comapany will pay the difference if the meter is wrong.  Don’t trust them?  Request an independent tester.  But it will cost you if the meter’s accurate. 

You can also get an energy monitor put onto the meter, so you can watch your per-hour power usage.

Finally, they have budget billing, which will even out power bills over the year to help with your budget planning.

Any of these can be requested by calling .

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Inflated Power Bills?
01/28/10 - 07:00 PM
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Are power bills in Jackson County getting out of control?  Many residents think so.  A handful got together Thursday afternoon to compare their bills, and didn’t like what they found. 

“Out in my neighborhood, people are choosing between heat and food,” Mary Leah Kent said.  “These people are freezing to death.”

Many held up bills that showed numbers which were doubled and tripled over what the costs were a year earlier.  The raise in kilowatt hours matched the increase in cost on the bills, but the customers didn’t trust the meters. 

“Mine’s doubled,” Jerry Richardson said.  ”And I haven’t changed a thing from last year.”

Freda Cobb, who organized the meeting, said she wanted the Governor to intervene. 

“We challenge him to send people down here, a representative, somebody,” Cobb said. 

“Because we cannot continue paying these kinds of bills, and put food on our tables.” 

Buddy Shelley, of Florida Public Utilities, says the customers are right.  Their bills have gone up—120% since 2007.

“Of course, we were starting at a very low rate to get to there,” Shelley said.
  He explained the company had once offered the best rates in the state.  But in 2007, they had to re-negotiate their contract with their power supplier, Gulf Power.  That led to several fees and other costs which added up to higher bills. 

“Yes, our rates are a little higher now, we’re probably mid-range of all the utilities in Florida,” Shelley said.

He said whatever was wrong, it wasn’t the meters.  They have accuracy ratings as high as 98%.  But if anyone suspects problems with their bill, they have a lot of options.

“If anybody has a problem or concern with how much usage they have, all they have to do is call us,” Shelley said.

“And we will send a meter man out there to check it and see if it is accurate.”