Tampa Electric after the storm surcharge: three reproducible bill examples

Tampa Electric’s current rate page says the temporary storm surcharge ended in August 2026, and tariff sheet 6.024 is effective August 1. The older January customer notice had described lower bills beginning in September; it is no longer the best source for the removal date. For a customer on the cited Standard Residential schedule, the direct line-item reduction is 1.995 cents for every kilowatt-hour: $9.98 at 500 kWh, $19.95 at 1,000 kWh, and $29.93 at 1,500 kWh.

Those figures are not complete bill forecasts. They isolate the published surcharge. Taxes and franchise fees can also change when the taxable subtotal changes, and an actual bill depends on days, usage, account adjustments, and the rate schedule in effect.

The published 2026 inputs

Tampa Electric’s customer notice lists these Standard Residential components beginning in January 2026 (January 2026 rate notice):

• basic service charge: $0.45 per day;
• energy charge through 1,000 kWh: 9.569¢ per kWh;
• energy charge above 1,000 kWh: 10.569¢ per kWh;
• fuel charge through 1,000 kWh: 3.210¢ per kWh;
• fuel charge above 1,000 kWh: 4.210¢ per kWh;
• storm protection charge: 0.717¢ per kWh;
• clean energy transition mechanism: 0.406¢ per kWh; and
• temporary storm surcharge: 1.995¢ per kWh.

The notice originally described an 18-month surcharge running March 2025–August 2026, with lower bills in September. It also says taxes and franchise fees can apply. Its basic-charge row prints “0.45 cents per day”; the governing RS tariff sheet 6.030 says $0.45 per day, which is the input used here. Treating the notice’s unit literally would understate the basic charge by a factor of 100.

The current rate page instead places removal in August and gives a current 1,000-kWh illustration of $156.43. The tariff’s storm-surcharge sheet, effective August 1, 2026, now shows dashes for the listed rate classes. These later records supersede the older September timing. The page also describes a January 2027 reduction to $154.13 as proposed and pending PSC approval, not an approved rate.

Our calculation method

We used a 30-day billing period, making the basic charge $13.50. We did not add gross-receipts tax, municipal public-service tax, franchise fee, late charge, optional-program amount, credit, or prior balance.

For the first 1,000 kWh, the listed variable components total:

9.569 + 3.210 + 0.717 + 0.406 + 1.995 = 15.897 cents/kWh

Above 1,000 kWh, the energy and fuel tiers each rise by one cent, so the listed variable total is 17.897 cents/kWh.

After the storm surcharge is removed, subtract 1.995 cents from each kWh. We held every other listed component constant solely to show the surcharge effect. That is a controlled comparison, not a prediction that no other rate will change.

Three worked usage levels

500 kWh

500 × $0.15897 = $79.485
$79.485 + $13.50 basic charge = $92.985 → $92.99
500 × $0.01995 surcharge = $9.975 → $9.98
$92.985 − $9.975 = $83.01

1,000 kWh

1,000 × $0.15897 = $158.97
$158.97 + $13.50 = $172.47
1,000 × $0.01995 = $19.95
$172.47 − $19.95 = $152.52

1,500 kWh

The first 1,000 kWh uses the lower tier. The remaining 500 uses the higher energy and fuel tier.

(1,000 × $0.15897) + (500 × $0.17897) = $248.455
$248.455 + $13.50 = $261.955 → $261.96
1,500 × $0.01995 = $29.925 → $29.93
$261.955 − $29.925 = $232.03

We calculated with unrounded values and rounded only displayed dollars to the nearest cent.

Why $172.47 is not the utility’s $176.89 example

Tampa Electric’s current page gives $176.89 for January 2026 and $156.43 after the August removal. Subtracting those displayed totals gives $20.46, whereas the removed surcharge alone is $19.95. The distinction is gross-receipts tax, not a mistake in the per-kWh multiplication (utility rate page).

Tampa Electric’s September 4, 2025 filing hosted by the Florida Public Service Commission is a projection, not the final timing decision. Its Schedule E10 shows $4.42 versus $3.91 in gross-receipts tax, a $0.51 difference; $19.95 + $0.51 = $20.46. The tariff gives a 2.5641% gross-receipts factor: $172.47 × 1.025641 rounds to $176.89, and $152.52 × 1.025641 rounds to $156.43 (filed residential comparison, tariff sheet 6.023). Our $172.47 figure intentionally stops before that variable tax and other location-dependent charges. This is why it should not be compared with the amount due on a bill without first matching every line.

Other reasons an actual bill will differ

Billing days

The basic charge is per day. A 29-day bill would use $13.05; a 31-day bill would use $13.95. Tampa Electric’s tariff also describes proration for billing periods shorter than 25 days or longer than 35 days (Retail Tariff Book).

Service territory and local charges

Franchise fees and public-service taxes can vary by location. A Tampa Electric customer inside one municipality may not have the same local charges as a customer elsewhere in the service territory.

Rate plan

The calculation uses Standard Residential service. Optional variable-pricing, load-management, solar, or other programs have different charges or credits. Confirm the rate schedule printed on the bill.

Actual use

The meter determines billed kWh. A 1,500-kWh summer month and a 500-kWh mild-weather month should not be treated as the same household “average.” This report does not separate air-conditioning use from water heating, cooking, pool equipment, electric vehicles, or other loads.

Later adjustments

Fuel and other clause charges can change. The controlled comparison holds January rates constant only to isolate the announced surcharge removal. Recheck the live rate notice before using the table after its review date.

Use your own bill to reproduce the change

1. Confirm Tampa Electric and the Standard Residential rate schedule.
2. Record the billing days and kWh.
3. Separate the first 1,000 kWh from usage above 1,000.
4. Copy the current energy, fuel, storm-protection, clean-energy, and surcharge lines.
5. Multiply each per-kWh line by the applicable usage.
6. Add the per-day basic charge.
7. Add the taxes, franchise fee, credits, programs, and balances shown for the account.
8. Compare with the actual statement and ask the utility about any unexplained line.

Method and limits

Local Service Ledger rechecked the current rate page, January notice, relevant tariff sheets and the filed projection on September 21, 2026. We independently recomputed all three examples using integer rate units before rounding displayed cents, reconciled the gross-receipts factor, and corrected the older timing and notice-unit ambiguity. We did not use customer bills, survey households, estimate HVAC use, or claim a market average.