Tallahassee, FL — On Friday, Senator Carlos Guillermo Smith introduced the Affordable Energy Reform Act (SB1532), with the endorsement of Food & Water Watch. The legislation filing comes after Governor Ron DeSantis’ Public Service Commission (PSC) approved numerous contentious rate hikes this past year from investor-owned utility companies like Tampa Electric, Duke Energy, and Florida Power & Light — including the largest in U.S. history.

The Affordable Energy Reform Act would help lower bills by reforming the way the PSC evaluate rate hike cases including:

• Insulating consumers from high fuel cost fluctuations by requiring that electric utilities assume partial responsibility for the cost;
  • Under current practice, ratepayers bear the full brunt of fuel price spikes and utilities are not incentivized to transition off costly fossil fuels.
     
• Reining in utility profiteering by capping return on equity (ROE) to national averages and tying ROE to utility performance benchmarks around clean energy and energy efficiency;
  • Under current practice, Florida utilities have been raking in some of the nation’s highest returns on equity and profits.

• Increasing transparency and public accountability from both the PSC and the utilities it regulates by requiring proportional in-person hearings whenever a utility requests a rate hike.

“Floridians are being squeezed by record utility rate hikes while investor-owned utilities post some of the highest profits in the nation. The Affordable Energy Reform Act puts working families first by capping excessive profits, holding utilities accountable for fuel costs, and giving people a real voice in rate decisions,” said Senator Carlos Guillermo Smith. “Affordable electricity shouldn’t be a luxury—it’s a basic necessity. This commonsense proposal ensures that the Public Service Commission finally does what it was created to do: regulate utilities for the benefit of ratepayers.”

“Florida is in an electricity affordability crisis. We applaud Senator Smith for listening to his constituents and introducing groundbreaking legislation aimed at achieving fair energy prices, while also lessening our reliance on costly and polluting fossil fuels,” said Brooke Ward, Senior Florida Organizer with Food & Water Watch. “Unaffordable energy bills should not be status quo — our legislators in Tallahassee must rally behind the Affordable Energy Reform Act and fight for an affordable Florida.”

Smith’s legislation is the second bill to be introduced to the Florida legislature this session aimed at addressing energy affordability, following Senator Don Gaetz’s PSC reform legislation (SB126). The Affordable Energy Reform Act builds off of Gaetz’s bill to encompass both PSC and utility provider accountability. Energy affordability has become a bipartisan issue in Florida and around the nation.

“Floridians are paying the price for a monopoly utility system that prioritizes profits over the basic needs of consumers,” said Samantha Kaddis, Advocacy and Campaigns Associate with The CLEO Institute. “The Affordable Energy Reform Act is a crucial step towards restoring accountability and rolling back excessive utility profits, protecting families from ‘ever increasing’ fuel costs, and ensuring that the public has a real say in decisions that impact their monthly bills.”

“We appreciate Senator Smith’s leadership in filing this legislation that will open the door for more transparency and accountability from our Public Service Commission,” said Katina Rentas Negrón, Climate Justice Campaigner at Florida Rising. “At a time where Floridians are struggling with rising utility bills, it is imperative to have a system in place that works for the people, and not for corporations.”

The Florida Public Service Commission has approved every electricity utility rate request it has reviewed in the past five years. From 2020 to 2025, Food & Water Watch analysis finds that Tampa Electric customer bills increased 56%; 42% for Duke Electricity; and 36% for FPL. Meanwhile, half the low-income households in major cities including Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando, and Miami have an energy burden greater than 7.2%, and a quarter of them, over 12%. The national average is 3.5%.