A rate hike for hundreds of thousands of Gulf Power customers might not be as big as initially proposed. Just prior to the start of a hearing before the Florida Public Service Commission the company agreed to a settlement with the state Office of Public Counsel, which objected to the original proposal to raise base rates by 106.8 million dollars. The settlement proposal, would add about $7 to the monthly bills of typical residential customers who use 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month, according to Gulf Power. If the request is approved, the company projects that starting July 1, the monthly bill for typical residential customers will grow from $144 to $151. The Public Service Commission will consider the proposed settlement on April 4th.
