Florence Utilities Rate Selection Guide
Florence Utilities is a municipally owned utility serving roughly 52,000 electric customers in Lauderdale County, Alabama as a TVA local power company. It offers billing access through the eBiz customer portal and is completing a Landis+Gyr Gridstream AMI deployment, but has not yet launched Green Button, a third-party API, or EDI.
Florence Utilities Rate Schedule Comparison
| Schedule | Type | Rate | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| GSA-1 General Power | Commercial | ~9.17 cents/kWh + ~$31/mo customer charge + TVA FCA (representative TVA distributor) | Small offices, retail, and light commercial under 50 kW |
| GSA-2 General Power | Commercial | Tiered energy + ~$15.63/kW demand + ~$118/mo customer charge + TVA FCA | Mid-size commercial 50-1,000 kW |
| GSA-3 General Power | Industrial | ~5.95 cents/kWh + ~$15.75/kW demand + ~$282/mo customer charge + TVA FCA | Large industrial / high-load-factor sites over 1,000 kW |
Market Overview
Alabama is a regulated, vertically integrated market with no retail electricity choice. Florence Utilities is a municipal distributor buying wholesale power from TVA; retail rates follow TVA's wholesale rate schedules and are approved by the Florence City Council. C&I customers cannot select a competitive supplier.
Need to pull your actual usage data to compare rates? See the Florence Utilities Data Access Guide →
Current Rate Schedules
Florence Utilities applies TVA's General Power (GSA) rate structure for commercial and industrial customers, tiered by demand level (GSA-1 under 50 kW, GSA-2 ~50-1,000 kW, GSA-3 over 1,000 kW). Each schedule includes a fixed customer charge, an energy (kWh) charge, and for larger loads a per-kW demand charge, plus a monthly TVA Fuel Cost Adjustment (FCA). Florence's residential average is about 11.69 cents/kWh. Florence-specific GSA dollar amounts are not published online; the representative GSA values below are drawn from a neighboring Alabama TVA distributor (Sheffield Utilities) and reflect the same TVA wholesale structure, so verify exact figures against Florence's City Council-approved tariff.
Effective: August 1, 2023 · Full Tariff Book →
| Schedule | Type | Applicability | Structure | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GSA-1 General Power (under 50 kW) | commercial | Small commercial / general power accounts with demand under 50 kW. | Fixed customer charge plus a flat energy charge; no demand charge. Representative neighboring TVA distributor: customer charge ~$31.28/mo, energy ~9.17 cents/kWh, plus TVA FCA (~3.08 cents/kWh). Verify Florence-specific figures against the City Council tariff. | — |
| GSA-2 General Power (50-1,000 kW) | commercial | Medium commercial accounts with demand from roughly 50 to 1,000 kW. | Customer charge, tiered energy charge, and a per-kW demand charge above 50 kW. Representative neighboring TVA distributor: customer charge ~$117.73/mo; energy ~10.43 cents/kWh first 15,000 kWh then ~5.55 cents/kWh; demand ~$15.63/kW (51-100 kW band); plus TVA FCA. Verify Florence-specific figures. | — |
| GSA-3 General Power (over 1,000 kW) | industrial | Large commercial and industrial accounts with demand above 1,000 kW (up to TVA GSA limits). | Customer charge, lower energy charge, and a per-kW demand charge. Representative neighboring TVA distributor: customer charge ~$281.53/mo; energy ~5.95 cents/kWh; demand ~$15.75/kW (0-1,000 kW) and ~$15.35/kW additional; plus TVA FCA. Verify Florence-specific figures. | — |
| TVA Fuel Cost Adjustment (FCA) | commercial | All electric schedules, applied monthly. | A per-kWh fuel cost adjustment set monthly by TVA and added to all rate schedules (recent levels roughly 2.2-3.1 cents/kWh). Exact monthly value published by TVA. | — |
Rate Recommendations by Use Case
Mid-size commercial site (50-1,000 kW)
Manage peak demand and verify GSA-2 placement to control the per-kW demand charge.
GSA-2 carries a per-kW demand charge above 50 kW, so peak kW reduction has outsized bill impact.
- Track monthly billed kW in eBiz and target the highest-demand intervals
- Stagger HVAC/equipment startups to clip peaks
- Request AMI interval data to find peak drivers
Large industrial / high-load-factor facility (>1,000 kW)
Confirm GSA-3 eligibility and pursue load-factor improvement to minimize blended cost.
GSA-3 offers a lower energy charge with a per-kW demand charge, favoring high, steady utilization.
- Raise load factor by flattening the production schedule
- Negotiate AMI interval-data delivery for demand analytics
- Layer in TVA EnergyRight process-efficiency incentives
Small commercial / multi-site portfolio (<50 kW each)
Stay on GSA-1 and focus on consumption efficiency since there is no demand charge.
GSA-1 is energy-only, so kWh reduction (lighting, HVAC) is the main lever.
- Download monthly PDF bills from eBiz for each site
- Benchmark kWh across sites to find outliers
- Apply for TVA EnergyRight lighting/HVAC rebates
Energy consultant / aggregator onboarding a Florence account
Plan for manual data acquisition since no API or Green Button exists.
Florence has no programmatic third-party access; data must be obtained via customer-authorized manual requests.
- Collect signed/verbal customer authorization up front
- Call (256) 760-6512 to request CSV/XML interval exports post-AMI
- Use Nectar for API access to this utility's billing and interval data — see docs.nectarclimate.com
Historical Rate Trends
Florence's retail electric rates track TVA's wholesale rate changes plus a monthly fuel cost adjustment. The current base retail schedule has been effective since August 1, 2023, with ongoing monthly FCA movement.
August 1, 2023
Current Florence Utilities retail electric rate schedule effective date.
n/aDecember 1, 2025
TVA monthly Fuel Cost Adjustment declined to roughly 2.18 cents/kWh by December 2025 from ~2.51 cents/kWh in January 2025.
-13%Overall trend: Generally rising base wholesale costs (TVA enacted its largest rate increase in over a decade), partially offset by a declining fuel cost adjustment through late 2025.
Next expected change: Tied to future TVA wholesale rate actions and the monthly TVA Fuel Cost Adjustment; no Florence-specific date published.
Cost Optimization Strategies
Because Florence operates in a regulated TVA market with no supplier choice, C&I cost reduction focuses on demand management, correct rate-schedule placement, efficiency upgrades, and TVA EnergyRight incentives rather than supplier shopping.
Peak demand management
For: GSA-2 and GSA-3 commercial/industrial accounts
Stagger equipment startups and shed non-critical load to lower monthly billed kW, directly reducing GSA-2/GSA-3 demand charges.
Rate-schedule verification
For: All C&I accounts
Confirm the account is on the GSA tier that matches actual demand; misclassified accounts can overpay on customer or demand charges.
Improve load factor
For: Demand-billed C&I accounts
Flatten the load profile (raise load factor) so energy is spread relative to peak kW, lowering effective cost per kWh under demand-based GSA schedules.
TVA EnergyRight efficiency incentives
For: All commercial customers
Use TVA/Florence EnergyRight rebates for lighting, HVAC, and process improvements to cut consumption.
To implement these strategies, you need your 15-minute interval data. Learn how to download Florence Utilities interval data →
Frequently Asked Questions
How can a C&I customer get electronic interval (kW) data from Florence Utilities?▾
There is no self-service interval export or Green Button download today. With Gridstream AMI now deployed, request interval/meter data in CSV or XML by calling Customer Service at (256) 760-6512; processing typically takes 5-10 business days. Otherwise, monthly billed demand and energy are available as PDF in the eBiz portal.
Does Florence Utilities support Green Button or a third-party data API?▾
No. Florence has not launched Green Button Download My Data, Connect My Data, a developer API, or ESPI/Share My Data. Third-party access for consultants is handled manually via customer-authorized requests to customer service.
Can an energy consultant or aggregator pull our usage automatically?▾
Not via a utility API. The customer must authorize the third party by phone/email, after which the utility shares PDF bills or data exports case-by-case. Nectar provides API access to this utility's billing and interval data — see docs.nectarclimate.com.
How are Florence Utilities commercial electric rates set?▾
Florence is a TVA local power company. Wholesale rates are set by TVA and the retail schedules (including TVA's General Power / GSA structure) are approved by the Florence City Council. There is no retail supplier choice in Alabama, so C&I customers are served on the tariffed schedule that matches their demand level.
Which rate schedule applies to my business?▾
TVA General Power tiers apply by demand: GSA-1 for loads under 50 kW, GSA-2 for roughly 50-1,000 kW, and GSA-3 for loads over 1,000 kW. GSA-2 and GSA-3 include a per-kW demand charge plus energy and customer charges, with a monthly TVA fuel cost adjustment applied to all schedules.
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