Lake Worth Beach Electric Bills vs FPL: Compare Summer Costs

The City of Lake Worth Beach's start-service application asks a buyer for a closing date, a requested start date, a photo ID and a copy of the closing papers. It also asks the applicant to confirm that the address is served by Lake Worth Beach Utilities. The form uses a Social Security number to run a credit check that sets the deposit, and an applicant who declines to provide one pays the maximum deposit. For many buyers, this form is their first contact with a city-owned electric utility, and it usually arrives after the offer has been signed.

The usual way to compare that utility with Florida Power & Light is a statewide table that prices a 1,000-kilowatt-hour month. On that table, the city utility comes out slightly cheaper. Its rates are built so that the advantage fades above 1,000 kWh. Preliminary federal data show that Florida households averaged well above 1,000 kWh in July 2026.

The benchmark is priced at a single usage level

Each month the Florida Municipal Electric Association publishes an electric bill comparison. In its August 2026 edition, a 1,000 kWh residential bill from Lake Worth Beach costs $138.40 and FPL's final total is $141.09. FMEA states that its FPL totals include an average 6% franchise fee.

The $138.40 figure equals the city's customer charge, base energy charge and power cost adjustment added together. It leaves out the $5 monthly Storm Fund Surcharge, which has applied to every Lake Worth Beach account since December 1, 2024. The city's bill guide says the surcharge stays on bills until the storm fund reaches $8 million. With the surcharge added, the city's 1,000 kWh bill is $143.40, slightly above FPL's comparison figure.

FMEA prices two other usage levels, and Lake Worth Beach's position changes across them.

Even without the surcharge, the city's bill at 2,500 kWh is $10.53 higher than FPL's.

The two utilities charge different amounts for every kilowatt-hour above 1,000

Both utilities charge more per kilowatt-hour once a household passes 1,000 kWh in a month. The difference is how much more.

Lake Worth Beach Utilities charges a $12.93 monthly customer charge. The first 1,000 kWh cost 12.547 cents each: 8.451 cents of base energy plus a 4.096-cent power cost adjustment. Every kilowatt-hour above 1,000 costs 15.996 cents.

FPL's residential rate sheet effective October 2026 lists a $10.52 base charge. Its energy charge is 7.865 cents per kWh up to 1,000 kWh and 8.865 cents above that. Its fuel charge is 2.893 cents in the first tier and 3.893 cents in the second. Conservation, capacity, environmental and storm-protection charges, minus a small transition credit, add about 1.5 cents per kWh at every level.

Adding those components gives this comparison:

• First 1,000 kWh: about 12.5 cents at the city utility and about 12.3 cents at FPL before franchise fees.
• Each kWh above 1,000: about 16.0 cents at the city utility and about 14.3 cents at FPL before franchise fees, or roughly 15.1 cents after FMEA's 6% average franchise fee.

Up to 1,000 kWh, the two bills track closely. After that, each additional 1,000 kWh costs roughly $9 more on the city's bill than on FPL's, even after FPL's franchise fee is included. Applying the same rate sheets and FMEA's 6% average fee to a 1,500 kWh month gives about $218 for Lake Worth Beach, or about $223 with the storm surcharge, and about $217 for FPL.

Those are standardized estimates built from the published rates. An actual bill also depends on the specific address, taxes and the month's adjustment factors. The direction of the result holds across all three levels FMEA publishes, though. The more a home uses, the further the city's bill moves above FPL's.

Florida homes passed the crossover this summer

The U.S. Energy Information Administration puts Florida's 2024 average residential use at 1,104 kWh per customer per month. That annual average is already above the level FMEA uses for its headline comparison.

Summer usage runs higher. EIA's preliminary state data, released September 24, 2026, work out to about 1,293 kWh per Florida residential customer in June 2026 and about 1,477 kWh in July. For FPL customers alone, the July 2026 figure is about 1,482 kWh.

These are statewide averages, not Lake Worth Beach figures. Still, a typical July month lands between FMEA's 1,200 kWh and 2,500 kWh columns, where the city utility's second-tier rate determines the outcome. A larger house, a pool pump or an older air conditioner moves a household further into that range. A buyer comparing a home in the city utility's territory with a similar home on FPL is comparing summer bills that lean toward FPL, even though the headline benchmark leans the other way.

The gap at 1,000 kWh has been shrinking

The small advantage at 1,000 kWh is also getting smaller. FMEA's December 2025 comparison listed Lake Worth Beach at $131.40 and FPL at $138.52 for 1,000 kWh, a $7.12 difference. By August 2026 the difference was $2.69. The city's base component stayed at $97.44 over that period, while its power cost adjustment rose from $33.96 to $40.96 per 1,000 kWh.

That increase came from the Lake Worth Beach City Commission's January 29, 2026 vote. The Palm Beach Post reported that commissioners raised the fee to help cover the rising cost of natural gas, a key fuel source for the city, and that the change affects about 28,000 customers. The staff report's forecast for March through September 2026 accounted for natural gas futures prices, a new supplemental power contract and higher FPL transmission rates. The utility says it sets the power cost adjustment for three-month periods and reconciles it quarterly against actual costs, so the rate can change several times a year.

The city's adopted FY2026-27 budget, dated September 24, 2026, assumes more of the same. It projects residential power cost adjustment revenue up 16.27% over the prior year and residential electric sales revenue up 4.74%. Those are budget projections, not an adopted rate schedule. At a June 2026 budget workshop, commissioners reviewed consultant modeling of base-rate scenarios ranging from a 3% increase to plans of 6% or more. Since January 1, 2026, the city has bought supplemental power through a Florida Municipal Power Agency contract, and FPL transmission costs are now included in that billing instead of appearing as a separate line.

FPL's rates are going up too. The Florida Public Service Commission approved FPL's four-year plan on November 20, 2025, with an annual revenue increase of $945 million beginning in 2026 and another $705 million beginning January 1, 2027. Both utilities' bills are heading higher. FPL's 2027 increase is already approved, while Lake Worth Beach's base-rate path is still being modeled. The tier structure is the one difference a buyer can check today.

The city utility's base charge also funds city services. Lake Worth Beach Utilities reported contributing $33.4 million to the city's General Fund since 2018, and the January 2026 staff report says those transfers are recovered through the base energy charge, not the power cost adjustment.

City limits do not decide which utility serves a home

Which utility serves an address depends on a territorial boundary, and that boundary does not follow the city line. A city report describes the electric service territory this way:

"with nearly equal areas inside and outside the City limits"

The same report puts about 75% of customers inside the city, with the rest in the Village of Palm Springs and unincorporated Palm Beach County. It says a territorial agreement with FPL dated March 6, 1972 sets each utility's service area. A June 2025 Moody's summary gave a similar split, about 72% of roughly 28,000 customers inside the city.

As a result, a home with a Lake Worth mailing address outside city limits may still get its power from the city utility. The city's Utility Service Area Look-up accepts addresses and parcels across Palm Beach County and gives the answer for a specific property.

What to collect before closing

Pre-closing research on this cost tends to be brief. A few steps make it more accurate:

1. Confirm the utility by parcel. Run the property through the Utility Service Area Look-up before you compare it with an FPL-served home.
2. Ask the seller for twelve months of bills. The city utility's Utility Bill Estimator uses averages from similar homes, not the address's actual bills. Customer Service at 561-533-7300 can answer account questions.
3. Read the July and August bills first. Months above 1,000 kWh are where the second-tier rate shows up.
4. Plan for the credit check and the timing. The application policy says connection happens by the next business day after the documents, full deposit and fees are in order. Deposits are applied to the final bill, and any refund is issued four to six weeks after the account closes.
5. Use the current rate page. The January staff report proposed a 4.040-cent first-tier power cost adjustment, but the city's electric rate schedule now lists 4.096 cents. The posted schedule is the figure to use when estimating a bill.

If you're comparing a home on the city utility with one on FPL and want to estimate summer electric costs before you write an offer, Varsha Chandra can help you collect the right bills and confirm the service territory early. Schedule a free consultation with Varsha to discuss your Palm Beach County move or listing.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.