State regulators approved a slight reduction in the monthly bills of Florida Power & Light customers starting next month, due to a decrease in fuel charges.

For the residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours monthly, it will mean a bill of $109.55, down from the present $111.12.

The utility had asked the Public Service Commission for a $8 monthly increase, based on its fuel projections, but changed its request as energy prices kept dropping.

Under state law, investor-owned utilities are allowed to recover costs of fuel and purchased power, but are not allowed to make a profit on those costs, which appear on customers' bills as a separate line item.

Also Tuesday, FPL broke ground in Martin County on its Next Generation Solar Energy Center, which it describes as the world's first hybrid solar energy plant and the first utility-scale solar facility in Florida. The plant, expected to be fully operational in 2010, will generate enough power to serve about 11,000 homes.

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