Duke Energy Florida LLC filed a request with the Florida Public Service Commission to recover costs related to the utility's response to Hurricane Dorian and Tropical Storm Nestor in 2019.

The company estimates storm costs of $171 million for Dorian and $400,000 for Nestor.

If approved, an average residential customer using 1,000 kWh of electricity per month will see an increase of $5.34 on monthly bills. For commercial and industrial customers the bill will increase between 2.6% and 7.7%, based on several factors, according to a Dec. 19 news release. The increase will be for 12 months, starting the billing cycle of March 2020.

The commission will review the costs and determine the final amount to be recovered in a proceeding in 2020.

The Duke Energy Corp. subsidiary is already using a combined $675 million in federal tax savings to cover restoration costs for hurricanes Irma, Nate and Michael, and to replenish its hurricane reserve fund.