Proposed 10% electric rate increase dies
City staff concedes an outside analysis did not justify the increase and City Commissioners appear poised to approve a 2% jump in power prices
Aug. 29, 2025
By Beth Kassab
After a contentious back-and-forth in recent weeks between City Hall staff and members of the Utilities Advisory Board, the City Commission appears poised to reject staff’s original budget proposal to increase electric rates by 10% overall (or 15% on the non-fuel portion of the bill) to cover the cost of undergrounding power lines and other work such as upgrading substations, meters and street lights.
At a City Commission workshop on Thursday three out of five commissioners said they would support a much lower roughly 2% increase (or 3% increase in non-fuel costs) on residents and business owners’ electric bills as well as pursue issuing bonds to cover a portion of the expenses.
Commissioner Kris Cruzada appeared to be the swing vote after Commissioners Warren Lindsey and Marty Sullivan advocated for the 3% increase while Mayor Sheila DeCiccio and Commissioner Craig Russell said they would support a 7% increase in order to raise more revenue sooner and help cover other demands in the budget.
“I’m leaning toward the more conservative number because we don’t know what the new power contracts will be,” Cruzada said, referencing the agreements Winter Park has in place with the Orlando Utilities Commission and the Florida Municipal Power Association that will be up for renegotiation in just a few years. Winter Park doesn’t generate its own power, but buys power from those providers and sells it to its 15,000 customers.
Staff has warned that the current contracts are highly favorable and rates are expected to climb when the new deals are signed.
No formal votes are taken at commission workshops, but if positions remain the same the lower rate increase is likely to be voted on as part of the first budget approval on Sept. 10.
The proposal to increase customers’ electric rates starting in October is largely driven by the city’s plan to finish burying the remaining 20% of overhead power lines by 2030, the target leaders announced three years ago when it moved the date back from 2026.
DeCiccio advocated for the 7% increase, more in line with one of the revised proposals from City Manager Randy Knight, who conceded an analysis by advisory board member Michael Poole showed the original proposal for a 10% jump in rates was unnecessary.
Knight conceded that the need could be lowered after Poole pointed out that the city is keeping a large inventory of transformers on hand after pandemic-time orders — once backlogged by supply chain issues — came in and stacked up. Factoring in those already-purchased supplies helped lower the cost of the undergrounding project.
So did another recommendation by Poole to hold back on a $400,000 segment of the project, which will eventually connect buried lines along the streets with buried lines to individual homes. That will now be done after all of the main lines are undergrounded.
Knight also agreed to wait to factor in non-undergrounding projects such as new meters or street lights until the Utilities Advisory Board can evaluate and prioritize each one.
The debate exposed not only the complicated nature of how electric rates are set, but also the difference in philosophies in how the city-owned utility should be managed and the extent to which it should help cover other expenses across the city.
Poole, an investment banker, said his analysis showed the original large rate increase proposal was “unwarranted” and said he was happy residents will save some $4 million collectively next year as a result of the changes.
“We need to have a really good discussion on the purpose and priority of the capital expenditures and how we spend money compared to other municipalities,” Poole said.
DeCiccio said she favored the 7% increase because Winter Park customers would still pay less than customers who are provided power by Duke Energy, the investor-owned utility that is one of the largest providers in Florida and serves nearly 2 million customers across five states.
“We would still be about 30% less than Duke Energy and we’re the second-most reliable in the state and it would allow us to purchase the transformers and have the margin we need in the general fund to balance the budget,” DeCiccio said.
Under the original budget proposal the electric fund would have funnelled $800,000 to the general fund, which pays for police, fire and other essential city services as well as projects selected by the City Commission.
The reduced rate increase means that amount will drop by more than $500,000.
DeCiccio said if Lindsey pushed the 3% increase then the $4.2 million worth of projects he had teed up to add to the budget would be “off the table.”
“If that has to happen, then that has to happen,” Lindsey responded, about the projects he wanted to discuss such as a new fire station on Lakemont Avenue, gateway arches for the Orwin Manor neighborhood and a study about the feasibility of connecting the Cady Way Trail with the West Orange Trail.
Sullivan also had to let go of his hope to add $250,000 to the budget to match a private donation to make improvements to Howell Branch Preserve.
DeCiccio said adding that project would ultimately lower the contingency fund to $170,000, a figure she considered far too low.
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It’s all messy. Even if the homes not under WPC are not incorporated. The city could work with ouc to at least give us some benefit of burying our utilities. In our case it has caused a rat infestation which pest control cannot remedy with the line tethered to our home. Winter Park please take care of the rat infestation and bury our power at least. We should at the very least get that benefit.
Only the utility company that services your account can do this. They own those lines. The City of Winter Park Electric Utility cannot move another utility’s line.
Other than the utility tax, no electric utility money should be “funneled” to the City’s General Fund.
Is there not six million dollars in reserves for future power cost increases????
The city needs to bury the lines and connect the rest of the homes ASAP. We are tired of waiting. Every year it was promised, the city adds a two-year delay. They have the equipment and the money. Do it now and spare us the melodramatics.
It is against my personal interests but, if there is a choice between a current rate increase and issuing bonds, I hope the Commission chooses the rate increase. Bonds just add to the overall cost and place a larger financial burden on future residents.
I have had yellow conduit pipes sticking out of my front yard for over two years and several in my backyard sticking out for 18 years that they promised would be finished and removed by 2008! And they still have done nothing. I’ve got lines hanging over my backyard that are low enough that I could touch with a broom. I’ve called everybody and everybody says it’s somebody else and nobody is doing anything. And I also had an $800 INCREASE in my electric bill the past two months. Seriously ??? This is ridiculous.
Who is your utility company?