Speaker: Adrian Madriz
In 30 seconds or less, say your name, where in Florida you live, and how you’ve been impacted by high electricity bills.
Adrian Madriz: Hi, my name is Adrian Madriz. Pronouns "he/el" and I live in Overtown Miami, Florida. And FP&L has really ruined my life this year with their rate hikes. Unfortunately, I've seen, uh, increases about 100 and $200 over what we would normally spend. And unfortunately that means that me and my husband have really had to cut back on things like groceries, how much we use a car, um, saving for our retirement. And those are the kinds of decisions we really shouldn't have to make, we really should be able to comfortably afford our utilities and then be able to pay for everything else that we need in life. And that's not the case that we have in Florida right now.
What do you want to say to the utility corporations and Florida’s politicians who are responsible?
Adrian Madriz: Here's what I would like to say to the utility corporations, especially to FP&L. Right now, what you're doing to the state of Florida is abuse and it's gaslighting because even if we were to get into a situation in which we could get our homes completely off grid with solar panels, wind, hydro, whatever, we're still having to pay you $25 in maintenance fees every single month for no reason other than to just stay connected to the grid. And this makes absolutely no sense. In addition, we cannot produce excess electricity to be able to supply our neighbors with power because you've forbade that. So you've essentially made it so that the only people who are allowed to produce electricity is yourselves and you're doing it in the most inefficient and expensive way possible and we really need you to stop. So please step out of the way so that real Floridians can come up with their own ways to produce their own power in the most clean and sustainable way possible.
