Lakeland Electric rates and bills in Polk County
Lakeland Electric's 122,506 residential customers in Florida paid an average of 11.73¢ per kWh in 2025, for an average bill of $136.09 a month on 1,160 kWh.1
EIA-861 2025 final, released October 7, 2026; the next annual release is due in August 2027. Averages are revenue divided by kWh, all charges included: not the rate printed in a tariff.
1 of 67 Florida counties served (EIA-861 2025)
Lakeland Electric's residential customers paid an average of 11.73¢ per kWh in 2025, while Tampa Electric and Duke Energy Florida, which also serve parts of Polk County, averaged 17.32¢ per kWh and 18.36¢ per kWh. The gap widened in 2025: Lakeland's average rose 2.9% from 2024, Tampa Electric's 18.1%1.
Lakeland Electric's price per kWh in 2025
Lakeland Electric is the electric utility of the City of Lakeland, a municipal utility whose rates are set by the city's own commission. In 2025 it served 122,506 residential customers, and they paid an average of 11.73¢ per kWh1.
That figure is average revenue per kWh: everything Lakeland Electric billed its residential customers, divided by the kWh they bought. The monthly customer charge, the energy charge and the fuel charge all sit inside it; most taxes do not. A home using less than average pays more per kWh than this, a home using more pays less.
Measured that way, Lakeland Electric in 2025 was:
- 6th lowest of the 36 Florida utilities with 10,000 or more residential customers; the lowest, the city utility of New Smyrna Beach, averaged 10.96¢ per kWh;
- 22.9% below the Florida average, which was 15.21¢ per kWh2 across all providers;
- 11th lowest of 177 US utilities with 100,000 or more residential customers, where the median was 15.07¢ per kWh;
- 19.0% below the national average for public power (14.49¢ per kWh1).
EIA does not survey Lakeland Electric every month (form EIA-861M), so there is no 12-month or latest-month figure for it, and annual figures are the most recent available. The statewide monthly reading covers every Florida provider, not Lakeland: 15.41¢ per kWh over the 12 months September 2025 to August 2026 and 14.99¢ per kWh in August 20263, both preliminary.
Polk County: one county, very different averages
EIA's service-territory records place Lakeland Electric in Polk County4 only, and it is not alone there. Tampa Electric, Duke Energy Florida, Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative, Peace River Electric Cooperative and the cities of Bartow and Fort Meade also report customers in the county. Which of them serves a home depends on the street, not the ZIP code, and EIA publishes no city prices; Lakeland Electric's service-area map settles it by address.
Source: EIA-861 2025, service territory; Census Bureau, Cartographic boundary file, counties. EIA-861 2025 service territory: 1 counties. Counts whole counties even where the utility serves only part of one; check the utility's own service-area map for an address.
Show the numbers
| County | Other utilities reporting service |
|---|---|
| Polk County | Duke Energy Florida, Tampa Electric, Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative, Peace River Electric Cooperative, City of Bartow, City of Fort Meade |
In 2025 the two city utilities with residential data, Lakeland and Bartow, had the lowest averages of the group, the two cooperatives sat in between, and customers of the two investor-owned utilities paid the most per kWh.
Source: EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2025 final. EIA-861 2025 final. Average revenue per kWh is all charges divided by kWh; it is not a tariff rate.
Show the numbers
| Utility | average residential price (bundled customers) |
|---|---|
| City of Bartow (FL) | 11.69¢ |
| Lakeland Electric (FL) | 11.73¢ |
| Peace River Electric Cooperative (FL) | 12.84¢ |
| Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative (FL) | 13.70¢ |
| Tampa Electric (FL) | 17.32¢ |
| Duke Energy Florida (FL) | 18.36¢ |
Across Florida, public power customers paid 13.17¢ per kWh in 2025, cooperative customers 14.43¢ per kWh and investor-owned utility customers 15.69¢ per kWh1. Lakeland Electric's average was below all three.
What a Lakeland Electric bill averaged
The average residential bill was $136.09 a month in 2025, for 1,160 kWh1 of use. Lakeland homes used somewhat more than the Florida average (1,103 kWh), and Florida itself ranked 6th highest among the states for use per home; air conditioning took 30%7 of Florida household electricity in EIA's 2020 household survey. The lower price still left the bill well under Florida's 2025 average of $167.866.
The bill gap with the Polk County neighbours is mostly price, not use. Tampa Electric homes used 1,117 kWh a month and paid $193.55; Duke Energy Florida homes used less, 1,009 kWh, and paid $185.261.
Source: EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2025 final. EIA-861 2025 final. Average revenue per kWh is all charges divided by kWh; it is not a tariff rate.
Show the numbers
| Utility | average monthly residential bill |
|---|---|
| City of Bartow (FL) | $135.91 |
| Lakeland Electric (FL) | $136.09 |
| Peace River Electric Cooperative (FL) | $151.12 |
| Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative (FL) | $170.89 |
| Duke Energy Florida (FL) | $185.26 |
| Tampa Electric (FL) | $193.55 |
2024 to 2025: a small rise beside large ones
From 2024 to 2025, Lakeland Electric's residential average moved from 11.40¢ per kWh to 11.73¢ per kWh. Use per home dipped from 1,175 kWh to 1,160 kWh a month, so the average bill rose less than the price, from $133.948 to $136.09 (+1.6%1).
| Polk County utility | Average residential price, 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeland Electric | 11.40¢ per kWh | 11.73¢ per kWh | +2.9% |
| Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative | 12.35¢ per kWh | 13.70¢ per kWh | +10.9% |
| Duke Energy Florida | 16.63¢ per kWh | 18.36¢ per kWh | +10.4% |
| Tampa Electric | 14.67¢ per kWh8 | 17.32¢ per kWh | +18.1%1 |
| Florida, all providers | 14.14¢ per kWh | 15.21¢ per kWh | +7.6%2 |
Source: EIA-861, 2024 and 2025 final; bundled residential customers.
Florida's average residential bill rose 7.5%6 over the same two years; Tampa Electric's changed by +16.7%1. EIA's annual figures do not split base charges from fuel charges, so they do not show which part of each bill moved.
2026: fuel charge up in spring, base rates up in October
Two city decisions in 2026 change the picture after the latest EIA data. On March 2, 2026, the Lakeland City Commission voted to raise the fuel charge from April 1, citing higher natural gas prices after the February cold weather and conditions in global energy markets.
In June 2026 Lakeland Electric proposed a base rate adjustment each year for four years, beginning October 1, 2026, with fuel charges, taxes and fees left unchanged by that proposal; the City Commission was scheduled to vote on July 20, 2026. The American Public Power Association reported in September that the commission had approved the base rate increase and that the fuel charge would fall on October 1, 2026, enough for total bills to go down that month. Lakeland Electric's pricing plans page lists the rates in effect from October 1, 2026.
None of this is in the 2025 averages above. Because Lakeland Electric is outside EIA's monthly sample, the first EIA figures to include the 2026 changes will be the 2026 annual data, due in August 2027.
Meters, time-of-use and rooftop solar
Nearly every Lakeland Electric home had an advanced meter in 2025 (99.9% of residential meters). Time-of-use pricing, which those meters make possible, was still uncommon: 2,044 residential customers were enrolled, 1.7% of the total, against 0.5% at Tampa Electric and 0.1%9 at Duke Energy Florida. Lakeland Electric's time-of-use plan is called Shift to Save; its peak hours and prices are on the utility's pricing page, and the time-of-use guide explains how such plans change a bill.
Rooftop solar was less common than at the investor-owned neighbours. Lakeland Electric reported 2,130 net-metered residential installations with 22.0 megawatts of capacity, or 17.4 per 1,000 residential customers, against 42.5 at Tampa Electric and 57.19 at Duke Energy Florida.
Outages
Lakeland Electric customers averaged 63 minutes without power in 2025, fewer than the Florida average of 70 minutes, with 1.07 interruptions per customer. The utility reported the same total with and without major event days (63 minutes). It uses another method (not IEEE 1366), while Tampa Electric (112 minutes) and Duke Energy Florida (87 minutes10) report under IEEE 1366, so the comparison is approximate.
Business accounts and help with bills
Lakeland Electric's 14,990 commercial customers paid an average of 9.78¢ per kWh in 2025, less per kWh than its homes, with an average monthly bill of $484.10. Its 86 industrial accounts averaged 7.61¢ per kWh, and all 137,582 accounts together 10.30¢ per kWh1. These are averages over many rate schedules, not a commercial tariff.
Low-income households in Lakeland can apply for help through the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which gave Florida $121.6 million11 for fiscal year 2026. The statewide picture is on electricity in Florida.
Lakeland Electric rates: reader questions
How much does Lakeland Electric charge per kWh?
Its residential customers paid an average of 11.73¢ per kWh1 in 2025 (EIA-861, final), up from 11.40¢ per kWh8 in 2024. The figure is residential revenue divided by kWh sold, so the customer charge, the energy charge and the fuel charge are all inside it. It is not a line from Lakeland Electric's price plans, and EIA publishes no monthly average for Lakeland Electric.
What is the average Lakeland Electric bill?
$136.09 a month in 2025 for 1,160 kWh of use, against $167.866 for Florida as a whole and $193.551 at Tampa Electric in the same year. The figure covers electricity only, before most taxes.
Did Lakeland Electric raise rates in 2026?
Yes, in two steps that EIA's annual data do not yet show. The Lakeland City Commission raised the fuel charge from April 1, 2026, and approved a base rate increase that began on October 1, 2026, when the fuel charge was also lowered. The 2025 figures on this page predate both changes; the next annual EIA release is due in August 2027.
Is Lakeland Electric cheaper than Tampa Electric or Duke Energy Florida?
On 2025 averages, yes: 11.73¢ per kWh at Lakeland Electric, 17.32¢ per kWh at Tampa Electric and 18.36¢ per kWh1 at Duke Energy Florida. A home cannot choose among them. Florida has no retail choice, and the address decides which utility's lines serve it.
Related pages
Sources
- EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2025 final; table Sales_Ult_Cust_2025; 2025, final; released October 7, 2026. www.eia.gov
- EIA, Historical state data, annual sales, revenue and customers; table HS861 2010-.xlsx; 2010-2025, final; released October 7, 2026. www.eia.gov
- EIA, Electric Power Monthly / EIA-861M sales and revenue by state; table sales_revenue.xlsx (EPM Table 5.6.A); January 2001 to 2026-08; months since January 2026 preliminary; released October 23, 2026. www.eia.gov
- EIA-861 2025, service territory; table Service_Territory_2025; 2025, final; released October 7, 2026. www.eia.gov
- Census Bureau, Cartographic boundary file, counties; table cb_2025_us_county_5m; cb_2021_us_county_5m; 2025 (2021 for Connecticut). www.census.gov
- EIA-861 2025, average monthly bill by state; table Average_Bill_2025; 2025, final; released October 7, 2026. www.eia.gov
- EIA, Residential Energy Consumption Survey 2020, state data; table CE4.1.EL.ST, CE5 state tables, state highlights; released June 28, 2023. www.eia.gov
- EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2024 final; table Sales_Ult_Cust_2024; 2024, final (file updated December 3, 2025); released December 3, 2025. www.eia.gov
- EIA-861 2025, advanced meters, dynamic pricing and net metering; table Advanced_Meters, Dynamic_Pricing, Net_Metering 2025; 2025, final; released October 7, 2026. www.eia.gov
- EIA-861 2025, reliability; table Reliability_2025; 2025, final; released October 7, 2026. www.eia.gov
- HHS, LIHEAP funding releases to states; table FY2027 first release; FY2026 final; FY2027 first release (October 9, 2026); FY2026 total; released October 9, 2026. acf.gov
How every figure is built: methodology. Found an error? Write to [email protected]; corrections are listed on the updates page.