Solar in FPL's Northwest Florida area (former Gulf Power)

Yes. NextEra Energy, FPL's parent, bought Gulf Power on January 1, 2019, merged it into FPL on January 1, 2021, and retired the Gulf Power name on January 1, 2022. FPL now serves the former Gulf Power area in eight Panhandle counties: Bay, Escambia, Holmes, Jackson, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton and Washington.

Not every Panhandle home is on FPL, though. Electric co-ops such as CHELCO, Gulf Coast Electric, West Florida Electric and Escambia River Electric serve large areas nearby, so check the name on your bill before you plan solar; this guide covers FPL customers.

Because of a transition charge that's being phased out. When FPL merged its rates, it added a rider to former Gulf Power bills that has stepped down each year, from 2.106¢ per kWh in 2022 to 0.421¢ in 2026, or $4.21 on a 1,000 kWh bill.

• 2026 typical bill: $141.36 for 1,000 kWh in Northwest Florida, compared with $136.64 in the rest of FPL's territory.
• January 1, 2027: the rider falls to zero, and FPL says Northwest Florida rates then fully align with the rest of FPL.
• Minimum bill: $30 a month, the same as elsewhere on FPL, so solar can't take your bill to zero.

FPL's October 2026 request for 2027 sets the typical 1,000 kWh bill at $141.87, including a $3.48 Hurricane Isaias storm charge; it still needs Public Service Commission approval. See why your FPL bill is so high.

Yes. Northwest Florida customers are on FPL's statewide tariff and the same state net metering rule, so exported kWh are credited one for one against the kWh you buy, and leftover credits roll forward for up to 12 months before a year-end payout at a few cents per kWh. FPL has a Northwest Florida net metering page with an online application, and systems up to 10 kW pay no application fee.

See Florida net metering for how the credits and year-end payout work.

• Energy Select ended. Gulf Power's Energy Select time-of-use program ended on January 1, 2022, and those accounts moved to FPL's standard residential rate.
• FPL time-of-use is available. FPL's optional time-of-use rate in Northwest Florida runs about 26¢ per kWh on peak and about 9¢ off peak, by FPL's own estimate. See FPL time-of-use rates.
• SolarTogether is open. FPL's solar subscription is open to residential customers in Northwest Florida; see SolarTogether vs. rooftop solar.

FPL has also built solar energy centers across the Panhandle, including Cotton Creek and First City in Escambia County and Blackwater River in Santa Rosa County.

Isaias made landfall near Destin as a Category 2 hurricane on October 9, 2026. FPL said about 435,000 Northwest Florida customers were affected; it restored about 45% within 24 hours and more than 95% within four days. Hurricane Michael in 2018, when Gulf Power still ran the grid, took about two weeks for the last customers. See Florida hurricane outages since 2016.

FPL began replacing overhead lines with underground ones in Northwest Florida in 2022, starting with a Myrtle Grove neighborhood near Pensacola. For backup during the next storm, a battery is what keeps solar running; see solar battery backup for hurricanes.

About 19,600 FPL customer-owned solar systems in seven Panhandle counties at the end of 2025, by our count of FPL's report to the Public Service Commission: Escambia (6,002), Santa Rosa (4,988), Bay (4,135), Okaloosa (3,918), Walton (279), Holmes (173) and Washington (146). See Florida solar by county.

Town pages: Pensacola, Gulf Breeze, Navarre Beach, Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Niceville, Mary Esther, Panama City Beach, Lynn Haven and Mexico Beach. Run your own numbers with the solar savings calculator.