Hey everyone, I'm working on a Tampa Electric (TECO) account and their fuel cost recovery clause numbers aren't adding up. They're showing a fuel cost of $0.04892 per kWh but when I calculate it based on their filed fuel costs and generation mix, I'm getting $0.04234. That's a $1,800 monthly difference for this 2.8 MW client. Anyone else in Florida seeing issues with TECO's fuel calculations? Their customer service keeps giving me the runaround about "proprietary calculation methods" which sounds like BS.
TECO fuel clause calculation seems off - Florida folks help?
Kevin, that's a significant variance. In my experience when utilities claim "proprietary methods" for fuel adjustments, they're usually trying to hide something. TECO has to follow Florida PSC rules for fuel cost recovery which require transparent calculations. Have you requested their monthly fuel cost filing with the PSC? That should show exactly how they're deriving the rate.
We don't have TECO up here in Pittsburgh but I've seen similar issues with other utilities inflating fuel costs. The trick is getting the detailed calculation workpapers that show fuel purchases, generation mix, and loss factors. If TECO is using a higher loss factor than approved, that could explain the discrepancy. Florida PSC is usually pretty responsive to complaints about fuel cost recovery.
Thanks Randy and Claudia. I filed a request with the Florida PSC for TECO's fuel cost calculation methodology. Interesting point about loss factors - I hadn't considered that. TECO has been upgrading their transmission system so maybe they're claiming higher losses than they actually have. Will report back what I find.
Kevin, I work with Entergy down here in Louisiana and we had a similar issue where they were using outdated loss factors that overstated fuel costs. Once we challenged it with documentation, they had to recalculate and issue refunds. Don't let TECO stonewall you with that "proprietary methods" nonsense. Fuel cost recovery is supposed to be transparent by law.