Tampa, FL — This morning, as Hillsborough County residents brace for high summer energy bills, advocates rallied outside the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners’ regular meeting to demand a public meeting on the expensive, dirty fossil fuels driving rising electricity rates. Advocates called for a meeting to discuss County options to get off fossil fuels, improve energy efficiency and invest in resiliency.

Days after the City of Tampa released their Climate Action & Equity Plan to move off fossil fuels with the impact of lowering electricity bills, advocates are calling on Hillsborough County to follow suit. Tampa’s plan demonstrates how increasing access to solar energy could eliminate increased rate charges, and that 100% solar could drop rates to under $30/month.

“Summer in Hillsborough County means dangerous heat waves and spiking energy bills. Our county’s continued reliance on fossil fuels is only making matters worse, as a new fracked gas pipeline and renovated Big Bend gas plant lock in decades of increasingly unaffordable dirty energy,” said Food & Water Watch Senior Florida Organizer Brooke Ward. “Fossil fuels are a bad deal for Hillsborough, driving rising rates and rising seas — our County Commission must act. We call on the Hillsborough County Commission to hold a public meeting on our fossil fueled rate hikes.”

Since January 2019, the average Tampa Electric bill has increased 62%, largely due to a continued reliance on costly, dirty fossil fuels like fracked gas. This trend is expected to continue, as TECO plans costly fracked gas expansion. Under the utility’s ten year plan, fracked gas will power 78.1% of Tampa Electric’s total energy generation by 2032.

The rally comes two months after the Hillsborough County Commission took a first step to address fossil fueled rate hikes. The Commission has not addressed this issue since its April 12 meeting.

“We’ve been showing up week after week asking for a public meeting to discuss a county plan to address fossil fuel rate hikes,” said League of Women Voters Hillsborough County Representative Stephen Kauffman. “We went through this same process with the City of Tampa, and they released their plan last week. Now we need the Hillsborough County Commission to do the same.”

Recording available here; Photos available here.