Unrelenting pressure from colder weather nationwide and increasing demand for oil and natural gas around the country continues to drive up the prices Florida Power & Light Company must pay for fuel well beyond projections. As a result, the Company today asked the Florida Public Service Commission to approve a fuel adjustment increase that will raise residential bills by 9 percent beginning the first week in April.

Under FPL's proposal, a 1,000 kilowatt-hour monthly residential bill would rise from $80.55 to $87.98 from April to December. Commercial and industrial bills would increase 13 and 17 percent, respectively. FPL does not profit from increased fuel costs that are a direct pass-through to customers following PSC review and approval.

"What is happening to fuel prices around the country has been a tremendous frustration to those of us at FPL who have worked so hard to keep our operating costs down in order to keep customers' bills low," said Paul Evanson, FPL president. Mr. Evanson made reference to a recent Wall Street Journal article on how dramatic fluctuations in the natural gas futures market have spurred "a rally so steep it startles even those accustomed to the energy market's wild gyrations." Since the PSC approved FPL's 2001 fuel adjustment in November, the price of natural gas projected for 2001 has risen about 46 percent and oil about 13 percent, he said.

Since January 1999, the price FPL must pay for a barrel of oil used to generate electricity has nearly tripled from $10.61 to $29.10 at the end of 2000 -- up 174 percent. The price FPL pays for natural gas also has increased at a dramatic pace, climbing from $2.67 per million BTU to $6.24 during the same period -- a 134 percent jump. Spot gas market prices have topped $10 per million BTU.

Electric and gas utilities in other states also are increasing customer bills as a result of fuel price increases, some -- in Washington State, Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, for example -- as high as 25-30 percent.

FPL has taken a number of steps to mitigate the impact of these unprecedented, skyrocketing fuel costs, Mr. Evanson said. For example, the Company is:

* minimizing its use of higher-priced natural gas by using the "fuel switching" capabilities of some of its plants to burn lower-priced oil,

* making economic purchases of power from lower-cost coal-based units of other power producers to further reduce consumption of oil and gas on its own system,

* selling excess oil-fired generation on the market and returning profits to FPL customers.

Mr. Evanson said that FPL will be providing its customers a one-time refund in June currently estimated to be between $75 and $100 million. The refund stems from an agreement reached in April 1999 with the Office of Public Counsel and the PSC that provides for revenue sharing between the Company and its customers, as well as a 6 percent annual reduction in base rates for three years.

FPL urges customers -- particularly those on fixed incomes and others wishing to minimize the impact of the increase -- to take advantage of special billing programs and energy conservation measures when possible. FPL offers customers a free budget billing program that levels customer bills over 12 months to avoid the impacts of particularly high bills in cold winter or hot summer months. In addition, FPL offers a number of programs to improve home energy efficiency, from energy audits to rebates on more energy efficient equipment. These programs are available by calling 1-800-DIAL FPL or by visiting FPL on the Internet at http://www.fpl.com/.

Florida Power & Light Company is the principal subsidiary of FPL Group, Inc. , one of the nation's largest providers of electricity-related services with annual revenues of more than $7 billion. FPL serves 3.9 million customer accounts in Florida. FPL Energy, LLC, FPL Group's U.S. and international energy-generating subsidiary, is a leader in producing electricity from clean and renewable fuels. Additional information is available on the Internet at www.fpl.com and www.fplgroup.com.

SOURCE: Florida Power & Light Company