Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative (WREC): rates and bills
Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative's 231,677 residential customers in Florida paid an average of 13.70¢ per kWh in 2025, for an average bill of $170.89 a month on 1,248 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.
5 of 67 Florida counties served (EIA-861 2025)
Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative's homes paid an average of 13.70¢ per kWh in 2025, 9.9% below the Florida average and less than Duke Energy Florida or Tampa Electric customers paid in the same counties. The bill tells a different story: WREC homes used 1,248 kWh a month, and their average bill of $170.891 was above the Florida average of $167.864.
What a kilowatt-hour cost WREC members in 2025
Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative is a member-owned electric cooperative serving 231,677 residential accounts and 255,506 accounts of all kinds in 2025, in Citrus County, Hernando County, Pasco County, Polk County and Sumter County2. Its residential members paid an average of 13.70¢ per kWh1 that year. Average revenue per kWh is what members paid in total divided by what they used, so it folds the monthly customer charge, energy charges and power-cost adjustments into one figure; a home using less than average pays more per kWh than this, a home using more pays less.
That average placed WREC 14th lowest among the 36 Florida utilities with 10,000 or more residential customers, 9.9% below the Florida average (15.21¢ per kWh3 across all providers) and 2.8% below the national average for electric cooperatives. Florida's cooperatives together averaged 14.43¢ per kWh and its investor-owned utilities 15.69¢ per kWh. Among the 177 US utilities with 100,000 or more residential customers, WREC ranked 55th lowest of 177, against a median of 15.07¢ per kWh1.
There is no more recent figure. WREC is not in the sample of utilities that report to EIA every month, so unlike Duke Energy Florida or Tampa Electric it has no 12-month or latest-month average; the 2025 annual report (EIA-861, released October 7, 2026) is the latest official reading.
Lower price than the neighbours, not a lower bill
WREC's territory overlaps with several other utilities: EIA's service-territory records show at least one other distribution utility in each of its 52 counties. In 2025 Duke Energy Florida's residential customers paid an average of 18.36¢ per kWh and Tampa Electric's 17.32¢ per kWh. SECO Energy, the cooperative that shares Citrus, Hernando, Pasco and Sumter counties with WREC, averaged 14.98¢ per kWh. Lakeland Electric, the city utility in Polk County, averaged 11.73¢ per kWh1, below WREC.
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) |
|---|---|
| Lakeland Electric (FL) | 11.73¢ |
| Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative (FL) | 13.70¢ |
| SECO Energy (FL) | 14.98¢ |
| Tampa Electric (FL) | 17.32¢ |
| Duke Energy Florida (FL) | 18.36¢ |
Use per home reverses much of that advantage. WREC homes used 1,248 kWh a month on average in 2025, against 1,010 kWh at SECO Energy, 1,009 kWh at Duke Energy Florida, 1,117 kWh1 at Tampa Electric and 1,103 kWh across Florida, itself the 6th highest4 among the states. EIA's data record the kWh, not the reasons; home size, the share of single-family houses and how many homes heat and cool with electricity all affect the average.
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 use |
|---|---|
| Duke Energy Florida (FL) | 1,009 |
| SECO Energy (FL) | 1,010 |
| Tampa Electric (FL) | 1,117 |
| Lakeland Electric (FL) | 1,160 |
| Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative (FL) | 1,248 |
The result is a bill in the middle of the group. WREC's average bill was $170.89, more than SECO Energy's $151.31 and Lakeland Electric's $136.09, less than Duke Energy Florida's $185.26 and Tampa Electric's $193.55, and close to Clay Electric Cooperative's $171.011, another Florida cooperative whose homes use more than the state average. Which of these utilities serves a particular home depends on the territory lines on the utilities' own maps, not on the town or ZIP code.
Those lines are not drawn by the utilities alone. Florida law lets the Public Service Commission approve territorial agreements between cooperatives, city utilities and investor-owned utilities, and settle disputes over who serves an area (Florida Statutes, Jurisdiction of commission). The same law leaves cooperatives out of its definition of the "public utilities" whose rates the commission regulates (Definitions), so WREC has no base-rate case of the kind Duke Energy Florida and Tampa Electric go through; the commission's power to prescribe a rate structure does cover all electric utilities, cooperatives included.
Source: EIA-861 2025, service territory; Census Bureau, Cartographic boundary file, counties. EIA-861 2025 service territory: 5 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 |
|---|---|
| Citrus County | Duke Energy Florida, SECO Energy |
| Hernando County | Duke Energy Florida, SECO Energy |
| Pasco County | Duke Energy Florida, Tampa Electric, SECO Energy |
| Polk County | Duke Energy Florida, Tampa Electric, Lakeland Electric, Peace River Electric Cooperative, City of Bartow, City of Fort Meade |
| Sumter County | Duke Energy Florida, SECO Energy, City of Leesburg, City of Bushnell |
From 2024 to 2025: price and use both up
WREC's residential average rose from 12.35¢ per kWh in 2024 to 13.70¢ per kWh in 2025, an increase of 10.9%, faster than Florida's 7.6%3. Use per home also edged up, from 1,224 kWh to 1,248 kWh a month, so the average bill rose more than the price: from $151.176 to $170.89 (+13.0%1). Florida's average residential bill changed by +7.5%4 from 2024 to 2025.
Averages rose at the neighbouring utilities too: SECO Energy's by 14.4%, Duke Energy Florida's by 10.4% and Tampa Electric's by 18.1%1. EIA's annual totals do not break the change into base rates, power costs or other charges; WREC's rate schedules and board announcements are where those line items are published.
Few smart meters
On metering, WREC differs sharply from the utilities around it. In EIA's 2025 count, 6.8% of its residential meters were advanced (AMI) meters, against 96.2% statewide and 99.8% at SECO Energy, 99.9% at Duke Energy Florida and 100.0%7 at LCEC. Advanced meters record when electricity is used and send readings remotely; billing by time of day depends on that kind of interval data.
Rooftop solar is less common among WREC members than in Florida as a whole. EIA counted 5,637 net-metered residential installations in 2025, 24.3 per 1,000 residential customers, with 61.5 megawatts of capacity. Florida averaged 29.9 per 1,000, SECO Energy 28.5 and Duke Energy Florida 57.17.
Outages: longer and more frequent than the Florida average
WREC members averaged 105 minutes without power in 2025, more than the Florida average of 70 minutes, and 1.45 interruptions per customer against 0.85 for Florida. Excluding major event days the total was the same, 105 minutes, so none of the reported minutes fell on days classed as major events. The figures follow the IEEE 1366 standard. Florida as a whole ranked 2nd lowest8 among the states on outage minutes.
Source: EIA-861 2025, reliability. EIA-861 2025 final. Average revenue per kWh is all charges divided by kWh; it is not a tariff rate.
Show the numbers
| Utility | outage minutes per customer (all events) |
|---|---|
| SECO Energy (FL) | 69 |
| Duke Energy Florida (FL) | 87 |
| Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative (FL) | 105 |
| Tampa Electric (FL) | 112 |
Business members and help with bills
WREC's 22,064 commercial accounts paid an average of 10.88¢ per kWh in 2025, with an average monthly bill of $492.61; its 1,765 industrial accounts an average of 9.06¢ per kWh. Across all members the average was 12.80¢ per kWh1.
Florida's federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program allocation was $121.6 million for fiscal year 2026, $13.04 per occupied household, the 2nd lowest9 among the states. For the statewide picture, see electricity in Florida.
Questions and answers
How much does WREC charge per kWh?
WREC's residential members paid an average of 13.70¢ per kWh1 in 2025: total residential revenue divided by kWh sold, so the monthly customer charge and any power-cost adjustment are included. It is not a line of the tariff, and it is an annual figure: EIA does not publish monthly data for WREC, so there is no 12-month or latest-month average for it.
What is the average WREC electric bill?
$170.89 a month in 2025, for an average of 1,248 kWh1. In 2024 it was $151.17 for 1,224 kWh6.
Did WREC raise its rates?
EIA's annual data show the residential average rising from 12.35¢ per kWh6 in 2024 to 13.70¢ per kWh in 2025 (+10.9%1). EIA's figures for 2026 will be published in August 2027; WREC's own rate schedules show the charges in force now.
Can I choose another electric company instead of WREC?
No. Florida has no residential retail choice: 0.0%1 of the state's residential customers bought power from a supplier other than their utility in 2025. The utility whose territory covers an address serves 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-861 2025, service territory; table Service_Territory_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-861 2025, average monthly bill by state; table Average_Bill_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 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.