Florida Power & Light Company is in the middle of a rate proceeding to set electric rates for 2026 through 2029. A rate cases is a thorough and robust regulatory process that takes about a year to complete. On Aug. 20, 2025, FPL reached a comprehensive four-year rate settlement agreement that, if approved by regulators, would resolve the company’s rate case.

This is an edited transcript of a conversation with FPL President and CEO Armando Pimentel.

Armando, before we get to the details of FPL’s settlement agreement, can you remind everyone why FPL is going through the rate-setting process in the first place?

Sure. While most other businesses can adjust their prices without asking permission or providing justification, FPL works differently. As an investor-owned utility, FPL must first ask permission, provide the rationale, the data and engage with stakeholders through a rigorous public hearing process before adjusting prices.

FPL is going through the rate-setting process because we want to ensure we can continue delivering the exceptional service our customers have come to expect. Just like with your car or home, it takes continued investment to ensure everything is running smoothly, efficiently and reliably. FPL’s proposed settlement agreement would enable us to make necessary investments to support Florida’s tremendous growth while continuing to maintain and modernize our grid.

You’ve called this settlement agreement a win for FPL customers. What makes it a win?

This agreement would enable FPL to continue investments for reliable service in a fast-growing state while keeping bills well below the national average through the end of the decade. The typical residential customer is looking at a monthly bill increase of roughly $2.50 next year, or less than 9 cents a day. In fact, the typical bill in 2026 would be about 20% lower than it was 20 years prior when adjusted for inflation. And from now through 2029, customers would see an average annual increase of just 2%. That’s far below the rate of inflation. How many other products and services can you say that about?

Who signed the agreement?

The agreement was developed jointly by FPL and a diverse coalition of customer groups who all agree this is the best path forward for reliable service and low bills. We reached this settlement after listening to our customers over the last several months.

What sort of investments would the settlement agreement support if approved?

The agreement would support the same types of investments that have led FPL to be 59% more reliable than the national average – investments like more smart grid technology which helped us avoid 2.7 million customer outages last year alone.

We also must prepare for Florida’s growth. We’ve added 275,000 new customers since 2021 and expect to add 335,000 new customers between now and 2029. That means we must expand our grid and build new power plants to meet the growing demand for power.

Many of our investments also have a long track record of saving customers money over time. For example, since 2001, we’ve saved customers $16 billion in fuel we didn’t have to buy because we modernized our power plants, and now they essentially get more miles to the gallon.

What are the next steps?

Our regulators have scheduled hearings, beginning Oct. 6, to thoroughly review the settlement agreement and ensure it is in the public’s best interest.

How do you expect regulators to react?

FPL and the others who signed the agreement believe strongly that this is a win and we plan on putting our best foot forward for customers during the hearings.

Armando, thank you very much.

Thank you.