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Progress Energy agreed to a $288 million refund for its Florida customers as part of a rate settlement announced Friday with that state's regulators.
The refund reflects the extra costs Progress incurred to generate or buy electricity to replace the output of the disabled Crystal River nuclear reactor, which has been shut down for more than two years because of damage caused during maintenance.
Raleigh-based Progress will record pretax costs of $288 million for the fourth quarter, which is expected to trim 59 cents from that quarter's earnings, Bloomberg News reported. Progress will announce more details when it issues earnings on Feb. 16.
The Florida rate refund will largely offset a rate increase planned for Florida customers, bringing down the increase to about 4 percent, or nearly $5 a month for a typical household.
The Florida rate case has no effect on customers in the Carolinas, but the $288 million write-down will affect all investors.
The Crystal River nuclear plant, north of Tampa, is expected to be out of commission indefinitely as Progress officials continue their engineering reviews to determine if the plant can be salvaged.
The company further announced that the disabled reactor will be removed from the company's rate base, suggesting that the plant's future remains clouded as Progress is potentially looking at several billion dollars in repairs.
Progress is planning to build additional reactors in Florida, but Friday's agreement limits the costs customers in that state will be charged through 2017 on that project.
