A new national analysis suggests a surprising slice of your electric bill is padding shareholder profits, and that hits close to home in Tampa. Local listeners and consumer advocates are flagging a public calculator and dataset that spell out how much of each monthly payment ends up as utility profit instead of power on the line.
What the report found
According to a report by Energy and Policy Institute, researchers reviewed financial filings for 110 investor-owned electric utilities covering 2021 through 2024 and tracked 79 of those companies into 2025. The analysis concludes that a sizeable share of residential electric bills is being returned to investors as profit rather than going strictly to fuel, maintenance, or operations.
Local findings and a calculator
WMNF Radio Tampa ran the numbers and republished the group’s calculator, which was also picked up by Spot On Florida. EPI’s Daniel Tait told WMNF, “If you’re a customer paying about 200 dollars a month for electricity, about thirty dollars of that every single month is going to corporate investors as profit.” Using EPI’s tool, WMNF reports the calculator estimates about 17% of a Duke Energy Florida bill and 19.5% of a TECO bill go to profits, with Florida Power & Light near 27% for 2025.
Why bills keep rising
Analysts say those profit slices are being driven in part by utilities’ growing capital plans and regulator-approved returns that are recovered through customer rates. Industry tracking found record-sized rate requests in 2025, S&P Global Market Intelligence reported, while state reporting has documented how regulators can bake profit and return on equity into customer bills. CalMatters examined those mechanisms in California and found they can amount to hundreds of millions recovered from ratepayers annually.
What this means for Tampa customers
Tampa Electric (TECO) supplies power across Hillsborough and surrounding counties, and its recent rate requests and storm-cleanup surcharges have already been part of rate cases here. Local reporting shows Florida regulators approved multiple increases for TECO and other Florida utilities in recent years, a pattern advocates say contributes to larger profit recoveries on monthly bills. WGCU examined those approvals and the commission votes that allowed them.
What advocates want
Consumer groups and EPI argue regulators can move quickly to curb what they see as over-recovery of profit. Options they cite include banning the recovery of political or lobbying expenses from customer bills, tightening how returns on equity are set, and demanding greater transparency in rate cases. Those policy suggestions are outlined in the EPI report and related materials. Energy and Policy Institute says such reforms could meaningfully lower what customers send to shareholders each month.
For now, the EPI calculator gives Tampa customers a quick look at how much of their own bill may be going to profits, and the report has added fuel to calls for tougher scrutiny from state regulators. Expect this topic to surface in upcoming rate-case debates as utilities seek funding for grid work and elected officials juggle reliability with rising affordability concerns.
