DAN TRACY/AARP FLORIDA

Harold and Joyce Salomon have been customers of Florida Power & Light (FPL) since they retired to Coral Springs 20 years ago. They oppose its request for a $1.3 billion rate increase that would be phased in over four years starting in January.

“They are doing excellently,” Harold Salomon said of FPL’s finances. “They don’t need an increase.”

Salomon, 79, a retired air-conditioning engineer, has owned FPL stock for years and tracks the performance of the utility’s parent company, NextEra Energy Inc., of Juno Beach, on the New York Stock Exchange. NextEra stock has risen from $56 a share five years ago to the neighborhood of $120 recently.

This is the third time in seven years that FPL has sought higher rates. Four years ago, the company won a $965 million increase from the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC). In 2009, the utility got a $300 million raise. Continue reading…