To the editor:

For years we stayed on a tight budget, worked hard and paid our $120 on average electric bill. This past year however, we received a shock when our electric bill rose to $600.

I did some research to get to the bottom of this. I found out the following:

We have our power through LCEC and LCEC has a contract to get energy from FPL.

Florida Power & Light asked the state if they could raise rates.

J.R. Kelly a consumer rights attorney had been fighting monopoly corporations requests to raise rates for years. He worked at the Florida Office of Public Counsel.

DeSantis signed a bill and our consumer utility rights attorney who had fought to keep rates affordable for years, J.R.Kelly, was forced to resign.

FPL was then allowed to raise rates by over a billion dollars!! And they are making record profits!

FPL then donated to Ron DeSantis. They have a PAC called NextEra.

Ron DeSantis then bought lots of fancy TV ads for this past election with the money

I don’t know about you, but I didn’t give LCEC or FPL permission to overcharge me so they could give our money to DeSantis or make record profits off our backs. I’m sick and tired of corruption at the expense of hard-working Floridians!

Next time vote him out. Until then we will need to vote every GOP lawmaker who also signed legislation to force J.R. Kelly out of office.

Under Crist, a former governor who ran against DeSantis for governor for the seat again, our electric rates were low and affordable. I remember.

C.A.Hughes, MSW

Cape Coral