Duke has 2 million customers, followed by TECO with 800,000 . In 2020, FPL would help Florida Republicans keep control of the state Senate by contributing to several close races, in the process dispatching one of the few incumbents who was publicly critical of the company. Bradley is married to former state Sen. More:FPL seeks to raise monthly power bills for residental customers by 10%. Feds Plan to Seize Russian Oligarch's Luxe Fisher Island Properties, Miami Canal Flooded With Turd Water From Contractor-Involved Pipe Break, Collapse of "Let's Go Brandon" Meme Coin Sparks Billion-Dollar Court Battle, Gator Gets in on the Action at Tampa Bay Horse Race, Readers Warn of Traffic, "Bloodsport" Driving After. Documents shared by an anonymous source show Silagy directing his team to make life hell for Florida senator Jos Javier Rodrguez. That proposal was forwarded to Silagy at FPL but never came to fruition. To date, no FPL employees have been charged with any crimes. Perkins has alleged in a lawsuit that Pitts led a rogue group of Matrix employees who undertook work on FPL's behalf that he only learned about after Pitts departed work worth millions in fees. DeSantis received $25,000 from a dark money non-profit funded by FPL in the 2018 election cycle, according to reporting from the Miami Herald. Currently, 5,779,202 consumers receive their electricity from the company. Records obtained by the Sentinel also show overlap between Grow United and previous campaigns to overhaul net metering. But wherever the pair went, indictments often followed. Florida Power & Light, one of the largest utilities in the country, abruptly announced the retirement of its chief executive after a tenure marked by strong financial returns, moves toward. The governors office also comes with a bully pulpit and executive order authority, both of which DeSantis has used frequently, pushing his anti-woke platform on everything from school curriculum to state pensions, unilaterally suspending elected officials, and creating his own election police agency. But DeSantis election police agency has remained silent on FPLs connection to election scandals, criminal trials, and ongoing investigations, instead focusing on the arrest of 20 individuals who may have registered to vote while ineligible, despite allegedly being told that they were eligible to vote, and the states issuance of voter IDs. He added that the net metering law has not been updated in 13 years and now is time to discuss it. That effort culminated with a Matrix employee signing an option agreement to purchase a controlling stake in The Capitolist in September 2019, the records show. But Florida Power & Light is arguing rooftop solar could cost Florida utilities about $700 million between 2019 and 2025, according to documents submitted to the Florida Public Service Commission. In Florida, FPL and Matrix demonstrated how a utility and its consultants can work in tandem to resist clean energy reforms. Under the scheme, a candidate with no political background was on the ballot as a no-party option in an effort to confuse voters and dilute support for the Democrat in the race, helping Republicans maintain their majority in the state Senate. A state board recently rebuffed a request from several Democratic lawmakers for an audit of Florida Power & Light's finances, which the representatives sought following reports linking the . Matrix affiliated groups have also worked to advance power companies interests in Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, and in front of the Environmental Protection Agency, public records show. He says he told them that he was disappointed, but there was enough work for both of them, based on the good work they had done. During his decade-long tenure as FPL chief, Silagy oversaw billions of dollars worth of power plant conversions from coal and oil to natural gas electric generation. "We contributeto organizations where we're aligned on what the ultimate goal is, and from the standpoint of having the Senate at the time, who was being led by (Senate President) Wilton Simpson, continue to be able to be led by Wilton Simpson,I was a fan of that," FPL CEO Eric Silagy, recently told me and several other journalists with the Times-Union, Orlando Sentinel and Floodlight in a wide-ranging interview in Jacksonville. Florida Power & Light customers who paid $101.70 last year for a typical monthly bill of 1,000 . NPR and Floodlight also reported in December that people working at Florida Power & Light's political consulting firm had paid a veteran ABC News freelance producer to try to trip up politicians who took stances opposed to the energy utility's economic interests. He argued that customers with rooftop solar are being subsidized by other customers who continue to buy electricity and pay to maintain the power grid. $2.75 million in tax breaks on speculative green hydrogen, tens of billions of dollars for burying lines, 2018 state senate race in Gainesville, FL, secured a deal to freeze FPL rates in 2005 as Attorney General, opposed FPLs $1.3 billion rate increase in 2009, calling the utility out for raising its rates on Floridians, largest donation FPL had ever made at the time, Utility front groups spending on disinformation advertising. Asked by Wall Street analysts during an earnings call on Wednesday whether Silagy's retirement was in any way prompted by those reports, the parent company's chief executive asserted that was not the case. FPL's financials remain strong. Theyve got the lobbying power, and weve got the people power.. The bill also allows utilities to charge rooftop solar customers more, by adding in facility charges, grid access fees and minimum monthly payments. Maybe we should double down on energy-efficiency measures. Florida Power & Light argues that arrangement is unfair to customers who dont generate their own power but continue to pay for the costs of maintaining the grid that rooftop solar customers also use. Inat least one case, they had this Times-Union columnist surveilled, according to the secret records. One industry consulting firm has influenced politics across Florida, Alabama and at least six other states. Many of the documents have since been verified by additional reporting, public records or Perkins himself. The regulated monopoly is generally seen as a safe, stable investment, but there is some sign the recent public scrutiny could mushroom into a larger problem for FPL. The records also demonstrate that secrecy is no substitute for sophistication or savvy: Some of Matrix's tricks did little to improve FPL's business prospects and, in fact, have now served to humiliate the utility like Silagy's use of a pseudonym email account belonging to a fictitious "Theodore Hayes" to communicate with Matrix employees (a tactic detailed in the leaked Matrix records that both FPL and Silagy himself confirmed took place). Nate Monroe is a metro columnist whose work regularly appears every Thursday and Sunday. Any report or suggestion that we had involvement in, financially supported or directed others to support any ghost candidates during the 2020 election cycle is patently false, and we have found absolutely no evidence of any legal wrongdoing by FPL or its employees, McGrath, the Florida Power & Light spokesperson said in response to questions for this story. In 1998, the firm distributed copies of a video in which a sex worker falsely alleged she had been sexually assaulted by a candidate for lieutenant governor. At least its not coal., The intent of the report was to highlight coal and the negative of coal and offer information that may be pertinent to those who live near the plants, Hope said. During an investigation by this newspaper, as well as the Sentinel and Floodlight, FPL became at least vaguely threatening about our decision to continue reporting. Watchdog exposing the attacks on renewable energy and countering misinformation by fossil fuel interests, DeSantis faces Democrat and Utility Critic, Crist. Adding more rooftop solar is one way to cut down on emissions and make the grid more resilient, Shober said. Ricardo Rossello,. The companies that are doing the right thing still have those kinds of plants in their portfolio, specifically coal, but theyre working toward other alternatives, Hope said. When the small south Florida citys mayor helped pass an ordinance in 2017 mandating rooftop solar panels on new construction, a network of 10 FPL-aligned operatives mobilized to ensure his ouster. Artiles has been connected to Florida utilities, including NextEra and its subsidiary Florida Power and Light (FPL), for years. Florida Power & Light president and CEO Eric Silagy will retire this spring, the Juno Beach-based utility's parent company NextEra Energy announced ahead of an earnings call with Wall Street. We're making smart, long-term investments to stabilize energy costs, lower carbon emissions, and make Florida energy independent. An FPL spokesman, nonetheless, took issue with the Find Energy reportciting concerns over a general legal disclaimer on the website and the use of a misleading statistic of overall emissions rather than the emissions rate. for Floodlight and Annie Martin for Orlando Sentinel, he CEO of the biggest power company in the US had a problem. Out of this, the FPL executive told Burgess, according to the Herald. FPL CEO Eric Silagy (left) speaks with Gov. And in 2020, Matrix even harnessed the power of the press for itself, when its employees acquired control of The Capitolist, a Tallahassee-based political news site which it used for favorable coverage, leaked records show. I feel rooftop solar is beneficial to the environment, and Floridians. Media scrutiny of the company's political giving began shortly after the 2020 election, when a trio of spoiler candidates tipped close state senate races toward candidates considered friendly to Florida Power & Light. The Find Energy report relied on data that is submitted by power companies to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The company bought an independently owned coal-powered plant in Indiantown in 2016 with the intent to close it, which occurred last summer. "JEA is broken," the group boasted on its website, where it posted Times-Union coverage of the utility's involvement in an over-budget, behind-schedule nuclear project in Georgia. Meanwhile, groups aligned with the utility falsely tied Dunn to the Obama administrations efforts to reduce the use of coal. That statement was made before additional rounds of damaging disclosures prompted the investigation by the outside law firm. The email was forwarded on to Silagy,though there is no indication the company seriously entertained Burgess' idea. Records show FPL trusted Matrix operatives with millions, including giving $14m to a single Matrix-run nonprofit in 2018 alone. Florida Power & Light president and CEO Eric Silagy will retire this spring, the Juno Beach-based utility's parent company NextEra Energy announced ahead of an earnings call with Wall Street analysts on Wednesday. The non-profit, called Broken Promises, first donated the funds to a political committee called Consumers for Energy Fairness. [But] now we have this incredible corruption and a reversal of that because they are using their advantage to hang on to power and undermine democracy, he said. Letsgetstarted. Silagy, CEO since 2014, will depart the company in April. All rights reserved. Consultants who control Grow United billed FPL for over $3 million before the entity started moving funds around for the election scheme. The money was allegedly funneled through a network of tax-exempt nonprofits that obscured its origin. The nuclear project was part of what the group deemed a "record of failure," rhetoric that borea remarkable similarity to the talking points later used by the mayor and privatization supporters to justify selling JEA. nears the finish line on new track at Freedom Field, Amazon's Daisy Jones & the Six Is the Latest in a Long Line of Embarrassing Portraits of Musical Genius. FPL | Contact Us We're here to help Please log in so we can help you faster. This plant has been part of the solution.. That candidate later admitted he was bribed to run. You gotta bow down and kiss the ring.. In all races, the Republican won the election. The commission held a workshop, which drew 16,000 messages from solar advocates urging it to leave the net metering program alone. Drop a line at hmorse@pbpost.com, call 561-820-4833 or follow her on Twitter @mannahhorse. One-tenth of 1percent of the power comes from oil. Florida now has the second-largest solar workforce in the country about 11,000 direct jobs and 31,000 indirect ones, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. The warm light races across a 600-mile expanse of land and coast before finally brightening the Perdido River in Escambia County on Florida's western border. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. 0:00. The largest city served by the supplier is Jacksonville, but the company also provides electricity to 243 cities in Florida. And Burgess himself seemed to recognize it was an unlikely proposal, lamenting that "they are such douchebag newspaper people they added the poison pill to prevent ahostil [sic] takeover, even if it costs them hundreds of millions in stock value" (it's not clear in his email what the alleged"poison pill" is supposed to have been). About a decade ago, FPL made the fateful decision to hire Matrix LLC, an Alabama-based political consulting firm notorious in its home state but with little public profile in Florida. The West County Energy Center, first serving Florida Power & Light customers in 2009 before reaching its current capacity two years later, is a natural gas-burning plant. "We're not making a connection" between the reports and Silagy's retirement, NextEra CEO John Ketchum said on the earnings call. Hannah Morse covers consumer issues for The Palm Beach Post. According to FPL, the plant also has the best available and most advanced emission-control equipment.. He added that the company would soon challenge the complaint and call for its dismissal. Its a tough, and expensive, goal to achieve, Patino-Echeverri said. The company is making renewable energy investments, including: Patino-Echeverri said the utility industry as a whole is making strides to make its plants more efficient. A short-lived organization called "Fix JEA Now" registered a web domain in 2017 and began making dramatic claims about the city-owned utility. See How. Legislators pass legislation, she said. What we dont think about is gas has to be brought up from the earth. Those dark-money groups were controlled by former Matrix employees, the records show. In 2013, Terry Dunn, a Republican electricity regulator at Alabamas Public Service Commission made moves to hold formal hearings on how customers energy bills were calculated something that hadnt happened in three decades. Big power companies operate as monopolies with captive customers in much of the south-east US. For example, in documents obtained by reporters, Silagy had emailed two of his vice presidents to make a state senator's "life a living hell" after proposing a pro-solar bill. Former FPL senior executive Armando Pimentel was named as Silagy's replacement. And additional reporting since last year has made it clear the leakedMatrix records contain legitimate information. I am concerned that it will result in significant costs here, but I also dont want to destroy the rooftop solar industry in Florida.. FPL argued that it is more cost-effective to build a power plant than to invest in energy-efficiency programs because building codes and energy-efficiency standards in consumer products have improved. Pimentel will rejoin the company on Feb. 15 and work with Silagy until his departure. From the beginning, Matrix showed no aversion to unsavory political tactics. Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida They are supposed to be closely regulated, but their profits and unchecked political spending makes them some of the most powerful entities in a state. While Matrix operatives quietly pulled strings for FPL, strife within their own firm boiled over. The solar industry disagrees, pointing to research that shows rooftop solar penetration is low enough in most states that the effects of distributed solar on retail electricity prices will likely remain negligible for the foreseeable future.. A spokesperson for FPL said it stopped working with Canopy in late 2021. Silagy is to be replaced by Armando Pimentel, a former senior executive at NextEra Energy. Bradley said she is open to discussing alternative models for her bill, including a system in use in the Carolinas to compensate rooftop solar customers who provide extra power for the grid when it is most needed, during peak hours. In California, regulators plan to increase fees on rooftop solar customers. COMMENTARY | Just a 14-minute drive from Florida Power & Light'sheadquarters in Juno Beach is the easternmost point in the state, where the sun's radiant light first cracks the night skyeach morning. While the transition to natural gas has reduced emissions that would otherwise come from oil or gas, and installing utility-scale solar is an important step, getting to zero emissions takes a lot more than that, she said. Over the course of DeSantis tenure, he used that veto power once to block an anti-rooftop solar bill written by FPL. I think they are doing their part. Earlier this year, current PSC members, appointed by Gov. In May 2018, FPL's sprawling. As you may know, Gera is NextEra Energys Vice President and Chief Litigation Officer. Want more of our free, weekly newslettersinyourinbox? She likened it to comparing emissions from a personal car used once a week and a city bus that takes many trips. Few examples are clearer than the case of South Miami. invested millions into groups with untraceable, anonymous donors that launched attacks on state and local politicians. FPL: Plant has "best available" and "most advanced" emission controls, Data shows FPL plant is highly efficient compared to others, Find Energy, experts laud FPL for use of natural gas, FPL touts its 'gas guzzler' to 'hybrid' modernization strategy, Analyst: Utilities 'doing their part,' urgency of the moment requires more, Solar advocates push for last-minute changes to net metering bills, FPL blows up its last coal-fired power plant; announces plans for its newest solar center, Your next Florida Power & Light electric bill is going way up. Money from the company also covertly secured favorable media coverage, investigations by the Orlando Sentinel, the Miami Herald, the Guardian, NPR, and Floodlight found. That growth has the utilities, and legislators, worried. I think we see in the trend overall nationally is were not moving fast enough toward these cleaner sources as we clearly need to, she said. Within minutes, one of them forwarded the directive to the CEO of Matrix, LLC, a powerful but little-known political consulting firm that has operated behind the scenes in at least eight states. In each of those cases, Matrix was working against politicians or policies fighting to curb the climate crisis by encouraging renewable power. The bill as it is written will decimate this industry.. There were a lot of challenges that we successfully managed," he said. Rooftop solar, while critical to fighting climate change, is a threat to the traditional utility business model. The utility company also contributes to many Democrats and to the Florida Democratic Party. small-scale solar capacity in the state. Katie Chiles Ottenweller, Southeast director for Vote Solar, an Atlanta-based advocacy organization, is optimistic but wary given Florida Power & Lights clout in the Florida Legislature and its role in drafting the bill. So it's particularly jarring to have seen the facility land on a list of pollutingelectric plants that included plenty of old-school coal power plants. Florida Power & Light is pushing for it as Florida's biggest utility it has 5.5 million customers, about 65 percent of the state. While some of the actions taken by FPL tick the boxes to reduce emissions, more can be done, Shober said. Silagy, who has been with the company for 20 years, has led FPL since 2011, having risen through the ranks by serving as chief development officer and senior vice president of regulatory and state governmental affairs. According to reporting by the Orlando Sentinel, Florida Power & Light executives have been tied to a series of dark-money nonprofits, one of which figures prominently in the Miami-Dade state attorneys investigation into a scandal involving a ghost Senate candidate. Is Jacksonville, but the company also provides electricity to 243 cities in Florida, FPL & x27. 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