LCEC – Lee County Electric Cooperative

Lee County Commissioners impose a franchise fee on customers in unincorporated areas

North Fort Myers, Fla., March 21, 2014 –Customers in unincorporated Lee County will notice a new charge on their electric bill beginning April 1, 2014, due to a new franchise fee imposed by Lee County Government. Board of County Commissioners voted to approve the fee at their March 18 meeting. The franchise fee of 4.5 percent of the electric bill is a means for collecting additional operational funds for Lee County Government. The agreement grants LCEC the right to use rights-of-way for electric facilities.

The fee will be assessed to all LCEC customers receiving electricity in North Fort Myers, Lehigh Acres, Pine Island and other unincorporated areas of Lee County. Customers can identify the fee on their bill as a separate line item. All monies collected by LCEC will be remitted to Lee County Government, and no funds will be retained by LCEC.

LCEC works hard to manage the costs that we can control. We maintain the electric system, improve processes, create efficiencies and leverage technology so that electric rates remain competitive. LCEC has not raised rates in five years and in fact, decreased rates in January.