Tampa Residents Symbolically Burn Electricity Bills, Rally Against TECO Rate Hikes

TAMPA, Fla. - On Saturday, November 1, Tampa residents gathered outside The Dr. Walter L. Smith Library & Museum, in the heart of West Tampa, in protest against unaffordable rate increases. TECO's 830,000 Florida customers have faced two consecutive rate hikes this year, increasing electricity bills between $29 to $38 per month. To afford higher bills, Tampa families have made difficult choices between keeping the lights on and purchasing groceries and other daily needs.

Rally Attendees tossed their paper bills into a large, smoking trash bin to show a united rejection of TECO's unjust rate increases, lack of transparency and their continued use of fossil fuels for energy creation. Speakers included Representative Kathy Castor, Tampa City Councilwoman Lynn Hurtak, representatives of Sierra Club Florida and Food and Water Watch, plus other local impacted residents.

Last month, TECO received its third consecutive failing grade in Sierra Club's 2025 Dirty Truth Reportfor continuing to operate its uneconomical coal unit, Big Bend Unit 4, and for planning to build new gas at a former coal unit. Both of those projects will result in high costs being passed on to Tampa families and small businesses.

"Families across Tampa Bay are stretched thin, and huge increases in their electric bills are adding to the pain," said Rep. Kathy Castor (FL-14)."Cost savings and incentives for cheaper energy were ripped away by the Big Ugly bill just so billionaires could bank on tax breaks. Polluters are propping up obsolete and expensive fossil fuel plants, and passing along the costs to our hardworking neighbors. Polluters shouldn't receive massive subsidies while Floridians struggle with the cost of health care, groceries and energy. It's time to put people over corporate profits. I stand with our community in calling for real accountability and investments in affordable clean energy solutions like solar. Tampa Bay families deserve fair rates, clean air and healthier, more affordable energy - not more excuses from monopoly utilities."

"We burned our bills today because we can no longer afford TECO's corporate greed disguised as business as usual," said Walter Smith II, Sierra Club's Tampa Bay Organizing Representative. "TECO's rate hikes - caused by continued operations of its polluting and expensive coal plant - are forcing residents to choose between lights, food, and medicine. This is a moral failure we will not tolerate. We urge our elected representatives to take a stand with the people they serve. It's time TECO is held accountable, retires coal, stops the rate hikes, and supports community-led solutions like solar co-ops and resilience hubs. This isn't about charity - it's about justice."

"In a time when single parents, working families, retirees, and our elderly population are struggling just to simply pay the bills and put food on their tables, we see, what feels like, a continuous and endless increase in utility rates," said Guido Maniscalco, Tampa City Council District 2. "The cost of living continues to go up and any increase creates another hurdle and another unnecessary burden upon our citizens. It is incredibly critical that we look at cost effective and more efficient energy alternatives and embrace the technology that will help reduce the fees, the costs, the burdens, and the impacts on our environment."

"Florida families are struggling under the weight of skyrocketing electricity bills, yet Tampa Electric keeps asking for more," said Brooke Ward, Senior Florida Organizer with Food & Water Watch. "This summer TECO customers paid the second highest bills in the country, and TECO plans to raise rates again in January. We need our elected officials to fight for affordable energy legislation that prioritizes community need over corporate greed!"

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.