How to read an electric bill: usage, rates, fees and credits

To read an electric bill, find six things: the service period, the kWh you used, the charges priced per kWh, the fixed monthly charge, taxes and fees, and any credits. Then separate this period's electric charges from the amount due, which can include other services and past balances. With those, you can work out your price per kWh and tell whether a change came from usage or from price.

1. Service period

Look for "service from/to", "billing period" or "days of service". The number of days matters: a 33-day bill covers 10% more days than a 30-day bill, so it usually shows more kWh even if your habits didn't change. Divide kWh by days to compare fairly; see how billing days affect your bill.

2. Usage (kWh)

The meter section shows the previous and current readings. The difference is the electricity you used, in kilowatt-hours (kWh). One kWh is 1,000 watts running for one hour: a 1,500-watt heater running for 2 hours uses 3 kWh. Many bills also chart recent months of usage; JEA's bill, for example, shows 13 months of consumption history.

3. Charges priced per kWh

These lines scale with your usage. Check the unit next to each one: ¢/kWh or $/kWh means the line grows with every kWh. Utilities name them differently:

• Energy or base energy charge. FPL describes its base energy charge as covering the non-fuel costs to produce and deliver power. JEA's energy charge covers variable and operating costs, debt service and a contribution to the city.
• Fuel charge. The cost of fuel for each kWh. It can change month to month; JEA resets its fuel rate monthly.
• Cost-recovery charges ("clauses" or "riders"). FPL lists separate per-kWh charges for conservation programs, capacity (power bought from other resources and certain nuclear costs), environmental compliance and storm protection (grid hardening).

If your bill shows separate supply and delivery lines instead, check their units the same way: per-kWh lines belong together, and their total divided by kWh is the price of the next kWh you use or save.

4. Fixed monthly charge

A flat amount you pay whether or not you use electricity. FPL's base charge, $10.52 a month on its October 2026 residential rate, covers the meter, billing and customer service; FPL also applies a $30 minimum base bill when a customer's base charges come to less. JEA's basic monthly charge is $21.00 under rates effective October 1, 2026. Fixed charges are why your all-in price per kWh falls as usage rises.

5. Taxes and fees

These depend on where you live. FPL lists a gross receipts tax and regulatory assessment fee of 2.6% of gross revenues, plus franchise charges and utility taxes that vary by local government. For JEA customers in Duval County, JEA lists a 3% franchise fee, a 2.5641% gross receipts tax and a 10% public service tax, with part of the fuel charge exempt from the last one; other areas differ.

6. Credits

Credits reduce the bill. Some are temporary: FPL's October 2026 rate includes a transition credit of 0.040¢ per kWh that FPL says declines to zero, with former Gulf Power and FPL rates fully aligned by January 1, 2027. Solar customers see export credits; JEA, for example, credits power sent to the grid at its fuel rate.

7. This period's charges versus amount due

The amount due adds anything carried over from before (an unpaid balance, late fees, deposits) and any other services on the same bill. JEA bills give electric, sewer, water and irrigation their own sections. For electricity calculations, use only the current electric charges. If your amount due jumped, this guide covers the usual reasons.

A real example: FPL's typical 1,000 kWh bill

FPL publishes a breakdown of a typical 1,000 kWh residential bill. For October 2026 it is $136.64, before credits and local taxes and fees:

The same lines on a JEA bill

A JEA bill has fewer electric lines. Using JEA's rates effective October 1, 2026 and its November 2026 fuel rate:

JEA's residential rate table lists only the basic monthly, energy and fuel charges. Its rate definitions also describe an environmental charge, but the residential table has no environmental column. So two JEA bills for the same kWh differ mainly through the monthly fuel rate and taxes, while two FPL bills can also differ through its several clause charges.

Taxes and fees come next and depend on where you live. In Duval County, JEA lists a 3% franchise fee, a 2.5641% gross receipts tax and a 10% public service tax, with part of the fuel charge exempt from the public service tax. We stop before taxes here because they vary by location.

What changes above 1,000 kWh

Both utilities price the kWh above 1,000 higher, so a bigger bill isn't just a scaled-up version of a smaller one. On FPL's October 2026 rate, 1,500 kWh comes to $204.41 before the gross receipts tax and local fees, compared with $133.10 for 1,000 kWh. The extra 500 kWh cost $71.31, about 14.26¢ each. On JEA's rates the same 1,500 kWh comes to $222.30 before taxes and fees, $73.40 more than 1,000 kWh, or 14.68¢ for each extra kWh. On a bill above 1,000 kWh, those are the prices a kWh saved is worth.

Use your numbers

Put your own bill's numbers into the price-per-kWh calculator to see your all-in price and the per-kWh price that values each kWh saved. Line-by-line explanations for two Florida utilities are on the FPL and JEA pages. Or answer a few questions in the free bill check.