State regulators Thursday signed off on a plan that will lead to a $184.9 million increase next year in base electric rates for customers of Tampa Electric Co. The Florida Public Service Commission, with little discussion, approved rate hikes that will take effect in January. The commission made a series of underlying decisions about the rates on Dec. 3, with Chairman Mike La Rosa describing Thursday’s vote as “largely a fallout” of those earlier decisions. The plan also is expected to lead to increases of $86.6 million in 2026 and $9.1 million in 2027. Tampa Electric has about 844,000 customers in Hillsborough, Polk, Pasco and Pinellas counties. In discussing rates, utilities typically point to a benchmark of residential customers who use 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month, though actual use varies widely. A commission staff report issued last week said that, under the plan, such residential customers would see their overall monthly electric bills increase from $136.44 to $145.58 in January. Meanwhile, Tampa Electric said in a news release last week that rates for small commercial customers would decrease by 3 percent, while medium and large commercial and industrial customers would see increases of 9 to 14 percent. Base rates make up a major part of customers’ monthly electric bills, and rate cases play out over months and involve voluminous amounts of information. Other parts of customers’ bills include such expenses as power-plant fuel and costs of complying with environmental regulations. MORE: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/teco-rate-hike-approved-tampa-electric-higher-prices/67-fef9079a-7f55-4a95-b4d3-31383f12e6d8