Methodology

• Electric

  When the provider has FPSC benchmark data (investor-owned utilities: FPL, Duke, TECO, Florida Public Utilities, FPL former Gulf):

  estimatedElectric = (typicalBill1000kwh / 1000) × assumedKwh

  We use the Florida PSC’s standardized “typical residential bill at 1,000 kWh,” which already includes base charges, fuel adjustments, storm charges, and regulatory fees. The implied $/kWh is total ÷ 1,000; we scale by your assumed monthly kWh (e.g. 1,200). Source: Florida PSC Comparative Rate Statistics.

  When no benchmark (municipal/co-op, or no PSC data):

  estimatedElectric = baseMonthly + (energyRatePerKwh × assumedKwh)

  We use the provider’s base monthly charge plus the energy rate times assumed kWh. Tiered rates are not yet modeled; use a single effective rate where applicable.

• Water

  estimatedWater = baseMonthly + (ratePer1000Gal × (assumedGallons / 1000))

  Base charge plus volumetric rate applied to assumed gallons. We express the rate per 1,000 gallons for clarity.

• Sewer

  Depends on method:

  • flat: fixed monthly charge (flatMonthly).
  • percentOfWater: a percentage of the estimated water bill. We compute water first, then sewer = water × percentOfWater / 100.
  • capacityCommodity: capacity charge per ERU (minimum 1 ERU) plus commodity charge per 1,000 gallons, using the city’s assumed water usage. ERU = usage ÷ eruGallons (e.g. 7,000) rounded to the nearest 0.1. Used for OUC wastewater.
  • tiered: not yet modeled; use estimatedMonthly as a manual value.
  • unknown: we use the stored estimatedMonthly as a manual estimate.
• Trash

  estimatedTrash = monthlyFee

  Trash is a fixed monthly fee in our model. Curbside and recycling are typically bundled; we use one combined fee.

• Total

  estimatedTotal = estimatedElectric + estimatedWater + estimatedSewer + estimatedTrash

Each city record stores assumed usage used in the formulas:

• assumedKwh: monthly electric usage in kWh (e.g., 1,000). Used for electric only.
• assumedGallons: monthly water usage in gallons (e.g., 5,000). Used for water and for sewer when sewer is percentOfWater or capacityCommodity.

These are chosen for comparison consistency. Your actual usage may differ; adjust mentally or use the formulas with your own numbers.

For each utility component we store: sourceName, sourceUrl, and lastVerified (date). Rates should be taken from official utility or provider pages. When you add real data, set sourceUrl to the rate schedule or tariff page and update lastVerified when you re-check. City pages show “Sources” with clickable links and the last-verified date.

Each component can have a confidence of confirmed, estimated, or unknown. This is for future UI (e.g., badges). In the seed data we use “estimated” for placeholders.