Tampa tenant is seeing a line item called "Big Bend Power Station Cost Recovery" on their utility allocation from Tampa Electric (TECO). It's about $0.008/kWh. Landlord says it's a legitimate TECO charge but I've never seen this before. Anyone know what this is?
TECO big bend power station cost recovery - legitimate pass-through?
Beth - that's TECO's cost recovery for environmental upgrades at their Big Bend power station. It's a legitimate tariff rider approved by the Florida Public Service Commission. Shows up as a separate line item on commercial bills over 50 kW.
Mike's right. Florida utilities often have separate cost recovery mechanisms for major capital projects. I see similar charges with Florida Power & Light for their Turkey Point upgrades. The PSC approves these as separate rate riders.
Thanks guys. Found the TECO tariff schedule - it's rider ERC (Environmental Recovery Clause). Rate is $0.007834/kWh for commercial customers. Landlord's allocation is slightly high but close enough.
We see this stuff all over the country now. OG&E in Oklahoma has a "wind generation cost recovery" charge. Utilities are unbundling everything these days. Makes lease pass-through audits more complicated but these charges are usually legitimate.
Good point Bev. The key is verifying the actual tariff rate versus what's being charged in the lease pass-through. I've seen landlords accidentally apply residential rates to commercial tenants for these special charges.
Cost recovery riders are becoming increasingly common as utilities upgrade infrastructure for environmental compliance and renewable energy integration. Always verify these charges against the filed tariffs, but they're usually legitimate utility costs being passed through appropriately.