TECO sale? (Tampa, St. Petersburg: for sale, 2015, house)

[housingcrashsurvivor]

A TECO Energy sale would hurt Tampa ‘just a little,’ expert says | TBO.com and The Tampa Tribune

TECO Energy acknowledged Thursday that it had hired Morgan Stanley & Co. to help it explore strategic alternatives. Analysts interpret that to mean the utility is putting itself up for sale, although TECO said in a statement, “Given the preliminary nature of this exploration, neither the company nor any of its representatives will be providing any additional comments at this time. No assurance can be given that the company will determine to pursue a potential sale or enter into any definitive sale agreement.”

...He said Duke Energy Florida still has a Florida president in St. Petersburg and still holds a seat on the chamber board.

“They’re very visible,” Steinocher said. “They have community outreach, educational outreach, you still know they’re there and you know who to call and who to talk to. They don’t disappear.”

TECO, with 700,000 customers in Florida centered in Hillsborough, is surrounded by giant Florida Power & Light Co. in the south, which has 4.3 million customers, and Duke Energy Florida, which has 7.3 million customers in six states in the north. Speculation focused immediately on those companies as potential suitors, but both said they would not comment on market speculation.

TECO residential customers typically pay $108 for 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity. Duke Energy customers pay $122 for the same amount, while FPL households pay $97.

[Sunnydee]

If Teco sells I sure hope Florida Power and Light is the buyer. Duke is a company I have no respect for and they gouge their customers at every opportunity.

[housingcrashsurvivor]

Agreed. And why I posted the rate differences. I think the difference even greater than shown. Though in Tampa Bay I am in a larger house than I had in south Florida, when I bought I did lots of insulating including attic and all new windows & doors yet my electric bill increased by about 20%, one place compared to the other: FPL there v TECO here.

I don't know just how a sale would work but since there is some regulations in the running of it by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florid...ice_Commission
I wonder if there could be some public pressure as to whom the buyer might wind up being, assuming FPL even wants it.

Even if government shouldn't interfere or try to steer a sale, the commission does have a say in setting rates and I'd hope this brings to light rate differences so as to pressure the commission to better control rates were TECO to sell to the guy who charges customers more than competitors offering the very same monopolized service.

[VanHalen5150]

FPL sucks too, hope TECO does not sell