Why the Bill Keeps Going Up
Florida generates 75% of its electricity from natural gas — and produces none of it. When gas prices go up anywhere in the country, the electric bill goes up here. The utility passes the cost through automatically. No vote required.
Three forces are pushing prices up right now:
- A war premium on every tank. We paid $2.98 a gallon at the start of this year. We’re paying $4.14 now — a 40% increase from a naval blockade seven thousand miles away. Diesel is $5.40. There is no “just take the bus” option in Gilchrist County.
- Data centers burning through our fuel. AI data centers in Virginia and Ohio are driving massive new demand for natural gas. They burn the same fuel we depend on — when they drive up the price nationally, we pay more. An 813-acre data center site has been proposed in Citrus County, right next door.
- We’re selling our gas overseas. LNG exports have gone from near zero to 12% of domestic production in a decade, with capacity projected to nearly double by 2029. Texas and Louisiana get the jobs. Florida just pays the higher bill.
We hear a lot about “energy independence.” We do produce more oil than we consume. But our refineries were built for a different kind of crude than what we pump — so we export ours and import theirs. “Energy independence” is a bumper sticker, not reality.
Meanwhile, oil companies posted $63 billion in extra profits above pre-crisis projections. Their executives are selling stock at 6× the normal rate. They’re not increasing production — the rig count actually fell. When costs go up, the pump price goes up the same day. When costs come back down, the price drifts down over weeks. They have zero incentive to lower prices fast. The longer they wait, the more they keep.
FL-03 is below the state median income. Our farms run on diesel. Every dollar on that pump is a dollar that doesn’t go to groceries or rent. The full cascade — food, fertilizer, global impacts — is on the economy page.
What a Congressman Can Actually Do
A congressman can’t order FPL to lower our rates. But federal actions shape the cost inputs that drive those rates.
Legislation
- SHIELD Act — Make data centers pay their own way for grid upgrades instead of spreading costs to households and small businesses.
- Data center energy disclosure — Bipartisan bill requiring data centers to report energy use, rates paid, and grid costs. No more confidential deals.
- LNG export consumer protection — Require DOE to determine that exports won’t raise energy prices for American families before approving them.
- Restore clean energy tax credits — the cheapest path to lower bills is burning less gas.
Energy Independence Starts at Home
Every crisis makes the same argument: the more we generate locally, the less we pay for someone else’s war or someone else’s export deal.
- Solar + battery. Restore the 30% solar credit. Add home battery storage — keeps the lights on when the next storm hits.
- Heat pumps. Three to four times more efficient than standard AC. Florida’s climate is ideal for them.
- Passive cooling. Reflective roofing, ventilation, shade trees. The cheapest watt is the one we never need.
An earmark for FL-03 energy independence. Our current representative submits zero earmarks. I’d use one to help FL-03 households and small farms install solar, heat pumps, and passive cooling — local installers do the work, money stays in the district, and every household that generates its own power is one less household exposed to the next Hormuz.