Central Florida Electric Cooperative (CFEC) Rate Selection Guide
Central Florida Electric Cooperative (CFEC) is a consumer-owned cooperative founded in 1939, serving about 37,000 members across five north-central Florida counties from Chiefland. Billing access runs through the Meridian Customer Portal and CFEC Power Partner app; AMI deployment status is not publicly documented, and there are no Green Button, EDI, or API programs — third parties work through Letter of Authorization requests.
Market Overview
CFEC operates as a vertically integrated distribution cooperative in Florida's regulated retail market. There is no retail supplier choice; members receive bundled service and rates are governed by the cooperative's board rather than the Florida PSC's full rate jurisdiction over IOUs.
Need to pull your actual usage data to compare rates? See the Central Florida Electric Cooperative (CFEC) Data Access Guide →
Current Rate Schedules
Central Florida Electric Cooperative (CFEC), headquartered in Chiefland, serves members across Levy, Gilchrist, Dixie, and neighboring counties with Seminole Electric wholesale power. CFEC implemented its first rate adjustment in nearly a decade on July 2025 bills (about 9.7% on a typical 1,000 kWh residential bill), raising the Basic Facilities Charge and Energy Charge following an independent rate study filed with the Florida PSC. Bills layer a daily facilities charge, blocked energy charges, a Wholesale Power Cost Adjustment (WPCA), and a Storm Cost Recovery Adjustment. As of February 2026, the all-in member cost per 1,000 kWh was $158.86. Commercial and demand-metered schedules are published in the CFEC Rate Tariff PDF.
Effective: July 1, 2025 · Full Tariff Book →
| Schedule | Type | Applicability | Structure | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Service (Non-Demand) | commercial | Small commercial accounts — shops, offices, churches — below the cooperative's demand-metering threshold. | Monthly/daily facilities charge plus energy charges on all kWh, with WPCA and Storm Cost Recovery riders applied per 1,000 kWh. See the CFEC Rate Tariff for current rates. | — |
| General Service Demand | commercial | Commercial accounts above the demand threshold with demand metering installed — grocery stores, larger retail, schools, packing operations. | Higher facilities charge, per-kW demand charge on monthly billing demand, and lower per-kWh energy charges than non-demand service, plus WPCA and storm riders. See the CFEC Rate Tariff for current demand and energy rates. | —+ Per-kW on billing demand — see tariff |
| Large Power Service | industrial | Large commercial and industrial loads — processing facilities, large pumping and agricultural operations — typically under contract. | Demand-metered service with contract minimums, per-kW demand charges, declining energy pricing, and power cost adjustment pass-through. Contact CFEC for contract terms — see tariff for current rates. | — |
| Outdoor Lighting Program | commercial | Security and area lighting for residential and commercial members on a flat monthly per-fixture basis. | Flat monthly charge per fixture by lamp type; unmetered. See tariff for current fixture rates. | — |
Rate Recommendations by Use Case
Agricultural operation — irrigation, packing, poultry
CFEC's rural territory is heavily agricultural; pumping and packing loads typically land on demand-metered general service or large power schedules where peak kW management matters.
Irrigation pumps and refrigeration create sharp coincident peaks. On demand-metered schedules, sequencing pump starts and shifting irrigation windows directly cuts the billed kW, while the WPCA rider passes through Seminole wholesale costs on every kWh.
- Stagger pump and compressor starts — simultaneous starts set the monthly demand peak.
- Compare demand vs. non-demand schedules with CFEC if your load hovers near the threshold.
- Budget for the WPCA and Storm Cost Recovery riders — they move independently of base rates.
Small commercial storefront or office
Small businesses in Chiefland, Cross City, Bronson, and surrounding towns take non-demand general service, where total kWh and the monthly riders drive the bill.
Without a demand charge, efficiency is the main lever. The July 2025 adjustment raised both the facilities and energy charges, so reducing baseline consumption now returns more per kWh than before.
- Use the CFEC Power Partner app and member portal to track monthly usage against prior years.
- Upgrade HVAC and lighting — Florida cooling loads dominate small commercial bills.
- Review the rider lines (WPCA, Storm Cost Recovery) on each bill to understand month-to-month swings.
Multi-site or energy-managed portfolio in CFEC territory
Operators managing several CFEC accounts need a manual or aggregator-based data pipeline — CFEC offers no Green Button, API, or interval data exports.
CFEC's member portal provides billing history but no machine-readable usage feeds. Credential-based aggregation or monthly statement capture is required for benchmarking, and rate-class verification must be done against the tariff PDF.
- Centralize portal credentials and enroll all accounts in e-billing for consistent statement capture.
- Verify each account's rate class after the July 2025 restructuring.
- Ask CFEC member services about demand history reports for demand-metered accounts.
Cost Optimization Strategies
CFEC's July 2025 rate adjustment — the first in nearly a decade — raised facilities and energy charges, and bills carry pass-through WPCA and Storm Cost Recovery riders on every 1,000 kWh. Optimization centers on efficiency, demand management for metered accounts, and disciplined tracking of the rider components.
Demand peak management
For: General Service Demand and Large Power accounts
Demand-metered commercial accounts pay per-kW charges set by the monthly peak. Sequence motor and pump starts, interlock HVAC stages, and shift irrigation or batch loads away from facility peak windows.
Cooling and refrigeration efficiency
For: All commercial members
In north-central Florida, cooling dominates commercial load. High-SEER HVAC, refrigeration tune-ups, and building envelope improvements cut the energy blocks that the 2025 adjustment made more expensive.
Rider tracking and budgeting
For: All accounts; critical for budget-sensitive operations
The Wholesale Power Cost Adjustment and Storm Cost Recovery Adjustment fluctuate with Seminole wholesale costs and storm restoration amortization. Trend these riders separately from base charges to forecast budgets and catch anomalies.
Rate class and threshold review
For: Mid-size commercial accounts near the demand threshold
Accounts near the demand-metering threshold should periodically compare billed costs under demand vs. non-demand schedules using 12 months of history — the optimal class shifted for some members after the July 2025 restructuring.
Surge protection and power quality
For: Agricultural and industrial members
CFEC offers a surge protection program; for motor-heavy agricultural loads, power factor correction and soft starters reduce demand-meter readings and protect equipment in a storm-prone grid.
To implement these strategies, you need your 15-minute interval data. Learn how to download Central Florida Electric Cooperative (CFEC) interval data →
Frequently Asked Questions
How do commercial customers access billing data from Central Florida Electric Cooperative?▾
Register the account in the Meridian Customer Portal at https://billing.cfec.com/mcp/login. The portal shows current and historical statements (PDF download), account balance, and payment history. There is no documented CSV/XML export, so energy teams download PDFs and digitize them for analysis.
Does CFEC offer interval or smart meter data?▾
Unconfirmed. CFEC does not publicly document its AMI deployment status or interval data access. Call (352) 493-2511 to verify whether interval data exists for your account, at what granularity, and how to request historical exports — do not assume 15-minute data is available.
Can a consultant or aggregator pull CFEC member data automatically?▾
No. CFEC has no Green Button, API, EDI, or aggregator partnerships. The working path is a customer-signed Letter of Authorization submitted to CFEC at (352) 493-2511 with your business information; data arrives manually via email or secure file transfer in 5-10 business days.
Does CFEC support Green Button or EDI?▾
Neither. Green Button (DMD or CMD) is not certified or documented, Florida has no statewide co-op Green Button mandate, and no EDI transaction support (814/820/867/810) exists. Custom structured exchange would require a negotiated agreement with manual email/SFTP delivery.
Can CFEC members shop for a competitive electricity supplier?▾
No. Florida is a fully regulated retail market with no customer choice. CFEC members take bundled service from the cooperative with board-set rates, so cost work focuses on rate class verification and load management rather than supply procurement.
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