Demonstrators upset and frustrated by TECO electric bills. Photo by Leah Burdick
On November 4th the Public Service Commission will vote on Tampa Electric Company’s request for a rate increase. Over the weekend, Tampa organizations and Mayor Jane Castor came together to protest the TECO rate hike at the Dr. Walter L Smith Library.
During the rally, demonstrators threw their TECO bills into a trash can of smoke to symbolize them burning these bills.
The Tampa Bay Sierra Club volunteers say TECO has already increased their rates three times this year and people should not have to choose between buying food and having electricity.
Leranda Jones is a demonstrator who said she is a victim of the TECO Rate increase.
“Getting a $250 bill and this month a $629 bill as you can see it was a shell shock. I did contact them if they could work with me and they gave me 30 days to pay the bill. You know the economy. I was not able to pay that bill in 30 days. So I’m still in that crisis,” Jones said.
She was not the only demonstrator affected. Rayne Dejesus is a Tampa resident who has a $850 electric bill this month.
“We are calling for help now because this is almost a mortgage. This is $400 shy of our mortgage payment and this is just from October 3 when we got our bill cycle. I don’t know what TECO has going on but they definitely need to burn the bill and give us more affordable energy,” Dejesus said.
Congresswoman Kathy Castor said Tampa pays one of the highest electric bills in the country.
“We are here to say we are angry about it and we want policy makers ,” Castor said.
She said electricity is up 10% and 1 in 3 households are cutting back on necessity to pay their electric bills. She said 3 in 4 people are concerns about sky high bills.
“TECO customers saw their bills increase by 76% between December 2020 and September 2025,” said Food & Water Watch in a press release.
After the burning of the bills, demonstrators stood on the sidewalk holding signs and chanting for change.