State regulators are ordering one of Florida’s largest power companies to refund $54 million it collected from ratepayers to pay for a failed nuclear plant.
The Florida Public Service Commission voted Thursday to require Duke Energy to credit customers for equipment intended for a plant in Levy County. The company never received the equipment and is suing the vendor.
Duke announced last year it was abandoning plans to build the plant in the small county on the Gulf coast.
Customers would begin getting a credit on their bills sometime in 2015, although a Duke spokeswoman said the company wasn’t exactly sure when that would occur.
The PSC also approved the overall rates for nuclear fees collected from both Duke customers and customers of Florida Power & Light.