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The Florida Public Service Commission approved Tampa Electric Company’s shared solar tariff, providing an option for electric customers to buy power from the company’s designated solar energy resource to meet all or part of their monthly energy needs, according to a May 14 press release.

The program ensures equal access to solar power to homeowners, renters, and businesses whether or not they own the homes or business premises. Currently, many consumers are unable to utilize solar power because they live in rented houses or multi-tenant buildings, or have roofs that cannot accommodate solar installations.

Tampa Electric’s new program requires participants to pay a shared solar charge of $0.063 per kilowatt-hour for energy produced by 17.5 megawatts of the Lake Hancock solar facility, which came online on April 25. Participants will avoid paying the fuel cost component of their bills on the portion of their energy consumption that comes from solar.

Tampa Electric Company is a subsidiary of TECO Energy Inc.

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