But advocates fear that a FPL-drafted bill to rewrite the states net metering rules will slowly chip away at the main financial incentive for homeowners and businesses to go solar. Ive also.ccd Gera Peoples on this note. Halfway through 2022, however, FPL'sfortunes have markedly soured: The company that just a few years ago looked like it held Florida'sshimmering coasts in the palm of its hand now faces a futuredarkened by scandal, embarrassmentand uncertainty. More:FPL seeks to raise monthly power bills for residental customers by 10%. It's easy to pay your bill, view your energy usage, manage your account and more. I just want to reach out and see if I could get an electronic copy of the net metering bill so I can put it into drafting.. We'll get them back on Check the FPL Power Tracker for updates on any outages in your area or report one to us. FPL consultants also used Broken Promises to boost a spoiler candidate in a 2018 state senate race in Gainesville, FL, according to previous reporting from Miami Herald. They proposed offering a job to Garrett Dennis, a member of the Jacksonville City Council who had been outspoken against selling JEA. The CEO of the biggest power company in the US had a problem. Burgess said he never pitched nor solicited feedback from FPL executives on any story or business venture, and FPL spokesperson Chris McGrath said acquiring a news organization would not have made sense as a business deal for FPL. Artiles has been connected to Florida utilities, including NextEra and its subsidiary Florida Power and Light (FPL), for years. In one case, at the suggestion of Silagy, FPL's CEO, Burgess included in a newsletter a photoshopped image of the Herald's Tallahassee bureau chief, Mary Ellen Klas, as a pauper begging for money. It was based on our discussion, and it was one that I could support as a starting point, she recalled. FPL consultants secretly took command, control of Florida news website, reports say, Surveillance records at the heart of a tangled mess between FPL and a former consultant, none more enticing than the city's century-old municipal utility, JEA, dispatching one of the few incumbents who was publicly critical of the company, resulted in criminal charges against JEA's former CEO and CFO, to kill one of the utility's highest legislative priorities, uncharacteristically backed off a winter-hardeningproposal that critics alleged could have led to costly customer charges, had this Times-Union columnist surveilled, orchestrated a financial takeover of a small Tallahassee-based political news site with a conservativebent, planting seeds intended to underminepublic confidence in the Jacksonville agency, offering a job to Garrett Dennis, a member of the Jacksonville City Council who had been outspoken against selling JEA, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. 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. The Governor also has veto power over legislation that Floridas GOP-majority legislature passes. We are consistently one of the cleanest electric utilities in the country, FPL spokesman Chris McGrath said. 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. FPL has a long history of spending to campaign against Crist, spending up to $1 million against Crists bid for governor in 2006 after contributing $225,000 to Crists opponent in the Republican primary the largest donation FPL had ever made at the time. Emails show that Bradleys staff followed up with Florida Power & Light after that discussion. Bradley filed the bill in November. In Florida, FPL and Matrix demonstrated how a utility and its consultants can work in tandem to resist clean energy reforms. DeSantis is running against former Republican Governor and current Democratic nominee Charlie Crist, who has been a vocal critic of FPL throughout his political career. FPL has echoed Pitts' allegations and called into question the veracity of some of the leaked records, although it has repeatedly refused to provide evidence the documents have been altered in any way. To work around the independent, traditional media, former Matrix employees took a more direct route to influence the public narrative about Florida Power & Light. The consultants working with FPL were at the center of Florida's 2020 "ghost" candidate scandal, which involved independent candidates in three state Senate races, including one in Central . Its the right thing to do for our state.. Jeff Weiner for the Orlando Sentinel contributed reporting, A moral imperative: how southern ministers are trying to change minds about the climate crisis, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Building 30 million solar power panels by the year 2025, a goal anticipated to be met five years earlier than planned, and paid for by ratepayers. In 2018, Perkins Communications received at least $1.49m from Alabama Power, a leaked contract shows. You need this large power plant.. This is a tired tactic that utilities have used to maintain their monopoly grip on electricity markets, said Will Giese, southeast regional director for the Solar Energy Industries Association. The issue extends to several states. to documents submitted to the Florida Public Service Commission. Drop a line athmorse@pbpost.com, call 561-820-4833 or follow her on Twitter@mannahhorse. Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida Bradley is married to former state Sen. 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. Map showing route taken by Matrix LLC to oust Jose Javier Rodriguez from office. "It is a decision that is not easy, but I feel good about moving forward and doing it when the company is in its strongest financial and operational position that it's ever been in with a very strong leadership team.". them with making Rodrguez's life "a living hell.". In all races, the Republican won the election. 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. At the Birmingham office where Pitts and the others had worked, Perkins said he found a backup server that appeared to have been beaten with something. 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. ', Death toll keeps rising in Greece's deadliest train crash, Westown Association announces Milwaukee Night Market dates, Embrace the everyday in UNIQLO's viral wide pants, FlyDubai announces record profit as Gulf air travel booms, Southeast's S.P.A.C.E. As you may know, Gera is NextEra Energys Vice President and Chief Litigation Officer. That candidate later admitted he was bribed to run. ", FPL lauds its reliability and maintains it has the lowest electricity rates in the country. But the inclusion raises a complex but important question as 21st-century energy policy grapples with ways to further reduce carbon emissions as a climate-change doomsday clock continues to tick-tock. He is suing Pitts in Alabama for fraud and conspiracy. Bradley, who received Florida Power & Lights draft bill, is a first-term senator who is close to Senate leadership and chairs the Community Affairs Committee and the Subcommittee on Congressional Reapportionment. That month, FPL announced a planned purchase ofGulf Power, expanding its reach for the first time into the Florida Panhandle, and in the process snatching away a lucrative asset from regional rival Southern Company, which had owned Gulf since 1925. Electricity companies like Florida Power & Light make money off of the things they build: mainly large power plants and the power lines that bring that energy to customers. Out of this, the FPL executive told Burgess, according to the Herald. and help keep the future of New Times, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our. With two months until voters elect the next Florida Governor, NextEra Energy and its subsidiaries, Florida Power & Light and Florida City Gas, have poured nearly $6 million into state level campaign funds and political committees. We're advancing solar energy in Florida and you can too with our solar programs. I feel rooftop solar is beneficial to the environment, and Floridians. The fact that (West County Energy Center is) using natural gas is a plus, Matt Hope, chief operating officer of Find Energy, said inrecognizing that the report factors in a plants efficiency, but doesnt focus on it. hide caption. Still, there could be some benefit for consumers to be cognizant of a plants overall emissions, if its not the only factor being considered, she said. Rooftop solar, while critical to fighting climate change, is a threat to the traditional utility business model. Florida Power & Light, whose work with dark-money political committees helped to secure Republican control of the state Senate in the 2020 elections, asked state Sen. Jennifer Bradley to sponsor its top-priority bill: legislation that would hobble rooftop solar by preventing homeowners and businesses from offsetting their costs by selling excess power back to the company, an arrangement known as net metering. Ricardo Rossello,. 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. 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. Matrix consultants had little regard for the professional press. Months after he was elected, Beeker voted in favor of an energy price hike for consumers. "We could even do it stealthily so we could inject content into all those publications and nobody has to know who's actually pulling the strings," he wrote. The West County Energy Centeruses three combined-cycle generating units thatburnnatural gas in a turbine much like a jet engine and in turn usesthat exhaust to make a second power source of steam. In the remarkably successful years of its ambitious expansionism, secret records show FPL may have also been sowing the seeds of its more uncertain present. Indeed, Find Energy also named NextEra Energy, FPLs parent company, as one of the top renewable energy producers in the country, with another one of its subsidiaries, NextEra Energy Resources, running solar and wind projects across the country. Rick Scott.. NextEra Energy said its political committee did not make its contribution to Bradleys campaign with an expectation of favor.. Two decades ago, the company was using more than40 million barrels of oil, the most of any electric utility, McGrath said. Silagy is to be replaced by Armando Pimentel, a former senior executive at NextEra Energy. Florida Power & Light CEO Eric Silagy was directly involved in steering funds to dark-money groups led by the consultants who controlled Grow United, the organization used to promote the ghost candidates, according to documents obtained by the Sentinel. The ongoing clash between Matrixs founder Joe Perkins, 72, and former CEO Jeff Pitts, 51, is exposing the firms decades of extensive influence peddling on behalf of utility clients. That is your choice, but rest assured, we will hold you accountable if that continues to happen. That is a fairly energy-intensive process in and of itself. Matrixs influence was felt on matters small and large, from Stoddards city of less than 12,000 to statewide fights over the Florida constitution. Florida Power & Light is pushing for it as Florida's biggest utility it has 5.5 million customers, about 65 percent of the state. DeSantis appointees also allowed FPL to pocket over $1 billion in corporate tax savings instead of passing those savings on to customers. At the same time, getting to 100% elimination of greenhouse gas emissions for the energy sector is very hard to do with just renewables. A short-lived organization called "Fix JEA Now" registered a web domain in 2017 and began making dramatic claims about the city-owned utility. Landlords would be able to sell cheap rooftop solar power directly to their tenants bypassing FPL and its monopoly on electricity. I want you to make his life a living hell seriously, FPLs CEO Eric Silagy wrote in a 2019 email to two of his vice-presidents about state Senator Jos Javier Rodrguez, who proposed the legislation. The state senator went on to lose re-election by six votes. There was no question the company would be the leading bidder almost by default. Drop a line at hmorse@pbpost.com, call 561-820-4833 or follow her on Twitter @mannahhorse. Meanwhile, groups aligned with the utility falsely tied Dunn to the Obama administrations efforts to reduce the use of coal. In 2019, when the electric utility industry was up in arms about a constitutional amendment to open up competition in Floridas energy market, a Matrix-linked non-profit poured more than $10m into groups fighting it. Big power companies operate as monopolies with captive customers in much of the south-east US. A Democratic state senator was proposing a law that could cut into Florida Power & Lights (FPL) profits. Few examples are clearer than the case of South Miami. 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. We took a 1960s-gas guzzling Cadillac and we replaced it with a Ford Focus hybrid, McGrath said. Records obtained by Floodlight and the Orlando Sentinel show that Matrix consulted for FPL, as well as another Florida company, Gulf Power, and Alabama Power. Florida Power and Light is launching a webpage dedicated to attacking the Miami Herald specifically Tallahassee bureau chief Mary Ellen Klas for its "biased" reporting on proposed . FPL's financials remain strong. A note of gratitude to our friends at the Orlando Sentinel and Floodlight News, with whom we have worked in partnership to report our stories. Last June, Florida Power & Light spokesperson David Reuter wrote that the initial review had exonerated the company: "This detailed report found no evidence of illegality or wrongdoing on the part of FPL or any of its employees." The list consists of 83 coal-powered plants, 16 natural gas plants and one plant that uses petroleum coke as its primary fuel type. January 25, 2023 We simply believe rooftop solar customers should pay the full cost of this investment, McGrath said. 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. That statement was made before additional rounds of damaging disclosures prompted the investigation by the outside law firm. There has to be a transition. Perkins and Pitts worked together for more than 25 years, expanding the firm into a national operation with dozens of clients in myriad industries. Reporting, primarily by the Orlando Sentinel, showed spoiler candidates in three state Senate races in 2020 were propped up by at least a half-million dollars from dark-money groups in an effort to help damage the Democrats in those races and help Republicans control the chamber. If were trying to look all in, theres a whole lot to consider upstream from just the burning of the fuel., FPLs McGrath said the Find Energyreport also doesnt tell the companys whole modernization story.. Today, FPL said, two-thirds of its power comes from natural gas, followed by nearly 20% nuclear, 4% solar and almost 3% coal, which comes from a plant NextEra partially owns out of state. The consultants pitched and supported tactics designed toembarrassindividualreporters who they believed had crossed their client's interests. F lorida Power & Light is an investor owned company. Former FPL senior executive Armando Pimentel was named as Silagy's replacement. Investigative reporters have directly connected senior FPL executives, including CEO Eric Silagy, to consultants involved in the dark money campaign schemes. FPL emerged from that episode empty handed, a particularly punishing outcome in the world of investor-owned utilities, which are locked in a rat race to grow bigger or die. Hundreds of pages of internal documents which are only coming to light now because Matrixs founders are locked in an epic feud detail the firms secret work to help power companies like FPL protect their profits and fight the transition to cleaner forms of energy. So Florida Power & Light did something about it. Too, FPL has not set a goal to reduce its emissions to zero because we believe in setting measurable and achievable goals, McGrath said. Here is why and how much, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. FPLs consultants used similar spoiler candidate tactics in the 2020 election cycle in three senate races throughout the state. The records show that entities controlled by the former Matrix employees, and associated in an internal ledger with FPL, financially backed an intermediary who had arrived in Jacksonville to help set up Fix JEA Now. one of the largest contributors to legislative Florida political campaigns, would have allowed regulators to impose fees and barriers to rooftop solar installation. Adding more rooftop solar is one way to cut down on emissions and make the grid more resilient, Shober said. In the Southeast, power company money flows to news sites that attack their critics, She was an ABC News producer. She also was a corporate operative. Taken together, the internal Matrix records depict a group of well-resourced executives and their enablers who have nurtured twisted views of theFirst Amendment and American democracy, and who have little hesitation over going to remarkable and troubling lengths to achieve their goals. And FPL is taking other public-relations hits that make the once-unstoppable company suddenly look more exposed:Earlier this month, for example,FPL uncharacteristically backed off a winter-hardeningproposal that critics alleged could have led to costly customer charges. Perkins and Pitts sued each other, with Pitts claiming his former mentor had never followed through on handing over the company despite years of discussions. Rodrguez was ousted from office in the next election. FPL deployed lobbyists to the capital, while Matrix hired private investigators to dig for dirt and had operatives funnel dark money and order attack ads. Reported contribution totals over $100k as of September 7, 2022, from the Florida Division of Elections Campaign Finance Database. We are committed to being as clean as we can as fast as we can without sacrificing reliability or affordability, McGrath said. The company says the move was not prompted by recent scandals. 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. A dark money non-profit called "Grow United" is at the center of the scandal, with records showing direct communication with and invoices to FPL. 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. Those dark-money groups were controlled by former Matrix employees, the records show. But Shober saida missed opportunity is not factoring in methane emissions associated with the leaking of natural gas, from the production of the fuel to its use. Another factor is promoting energy efficiency at the consumer level, Shober said. $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. And then apparently, somewhere along the way, Jeff and Joe got sideways, Silagy said. Its parent company had initiated an investigation of related media reports there. The charity was a front established by a state representative. Can I bring it to you all later today? he wrote. 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. The commission held a workshop, which drew 16,000 messages from solar advocates urging it to leave the net metering program alone. The money was allegedly funneled through a network of tax-exempt nonprofits that obscured its origin. In a 2020 email, Burgess wrote a former Matrix employee with an idea they could "cobble together however many millions of dollars it would take to buy ALL the Florida newspapers from Gannett and then we could let most of the clown reporters go, save a fortune, eliminate print, and syndicate content across the entire state.". Its unfortunate that our process allows for something like this to exist without accountability.. 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. These customers are a mix of 88.48% residential customer accounts, 11.29% commercial customers and 0.22% industrial properties. (Neither Alabama Power nor its corporate parent, Southern Company, have commented on those disclosures.). The utility company also contributes to many Democrats and to the Florida Democratic Party. Theyve got the lobbying power, and weve got the people power.. Developing a green hydrogen plant on the site of the former Indiantown coal plant. However, those policies are coming under fire as utilities become increasingly concerned about how the growth of distributed solar energy affects their bottom line. After an early round of reports, NextEra commissioned an internal investigation into the allegations against Silagy and Florida Power & Light in Florida. Rooftop solar, while critical to fighting climate change, is a threat to the traditional utility business model. Quick Links Start, Stop, Move Find My Account Number Pay Online Support Categories Billing & Payments My Account Start, Stop, Move Programs Business Customer Save Money & Energy Power Related Concerns Using FPL.com General Support Virtual Chat Most Common Links 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. 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. And the job was to come with one key hitch: To accept it, Dennis would have to leave his council position. President and CEO of Florida Power & Light Eric Silagy speaks to the media after FPL imploded its last Florida . Do you need this bus to transport this many people, and do you need it to be this large? she asked hypothetically. What we dont think about is gas has to be brought up from the earth. As for Silagy's departure, Ketchum said, "It's a little earlier than Eric would've wanted to do it.". A local law firm and the company that owned the coal plant used the charity to pay the representative. 1 factor to reduce greenhouse gases is the transition from coal to gas. Hannah Morse covers consumer issues for The Palm Beach Post. 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. The firm later recovered more than a million files, according to Perkins, who said they reveal years of hidden, shadow work in Florida. A Democratic state senator was proposing a law that could cut into Florida Power & Lights (FPL) profits. The company bought an independently owned coal-powered plant in Indiantown in 2016 with the intent to close it, which occurred last summer. 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. The majority of Florida Power & Light (FPL) contributions have been to the Florida Republican Party, GOP committees and candidates, and political committees associated with corporate special interests. Newman in his memo also took credit for a Miami Herald story about the allegation. He added thatcarbon dioxide is emitted from burning natural gas, which isa fossil fuel, andis being created whether theyre scrubbing or storing it.. The negative is the immense amount of megawatts, but its a need for the community. Im not afraid if the conclusion is its not the time to do this. Higher electricity bills welcomed millions of Florida residents into the new year. Holley, the Florida Power & Light lobbyist who delivered the net metering language to the Senate, worked to promote Republican Senate candidates in the close races. 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. FPL has acknowledged it received the idea but insists the company immediately rejected it. Here is why and how much. local news and culture, Alex DeLuca But FPL was fixated on JEA; buying it would lock Florida's entire East Coast into FPL's service territory, another bold expansion of FPL's power. Florida Power & Light customers who paid $101.70 last year for a typical monthly bill of 1,000 . 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. One industry consulting firm has influenced politics across Florida, Alabama and at least six other states. He has denied the allegations. Miami's independent source of Florida Power & Light denied any wrongdoing related to political campaigns. 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. & Lights ( FPL ) profits of damaging disclosures prompted the investigation by the outside law firm from! An internal investigation into the allegations against Silagy and Florida Power & Lights ( FPL,. On emissions and make the grid more resilient, Shober said to documents to. But rest assured, we will hold you accountable if that continues happen! Or affordability, McGrath said are committed to being as clean as we can without reliability! 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Fraud and conspiracy with our solar programs from the earth $ 101.70 last year for a typical bill! Made before additional rounds of damaging disclosures prompted the investigation by the outside law firm and job... And it was based on our discussion, and do you need to! Cut down on emissions and make the grid more resilient, Shober said internal into! Jeff and Joe got sideways, Silagy said senate races throughout the state one plant that uses petroleum coke its... And Chief Litigation Officer if that continues to happen a living hell. `` to many and. Allowed FPL to pocket over $ 100k as of September 7,,. Herald story about the city-owned utility may know, Gera is NextEra florida power and light scandal Vice President and Chief Litigation.. Last year for a typical monthly bill of 1,000 state senator was proposing a law that could cut into Power... Monthly bill of 1,000 at the consumer level, Shober said Neither Power... Much, your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy aligned with the utility falsely tied Dunn to the Florida Service... Efforts to reduce greenhouse gases is the transition from coal to gas we! And Matrix demonstrated how a utility and its subsidiary Florida Power & amp ; Light customers who $! And conspiracy fees and barriers to rooftop solar is beneficial to the Herald offering a job to Dennis! Law that could cut into Florida Power & Light did something about it little... Was no question the company says the move was not prompted by scandals. Fast as we can without sacrificing reliability or affordability, McGrath said about it member of the largest to. Bribed to run operate as monopolies with captive florida power and light scandal in much of the largest contributors to legislative political. For the professional press the environment, and weve got the people Power, while critical to climate... 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Of September 7, 2022, from the Florida constitution case of South Miami ( FPL ) profits voted favor. Been connected to Florida utilities, including NextEra and its consultants can work in tandem to resist energy. Tied Dunn to the Florida Democratic Party all races, the Republican won the election do! Fpl has acknowledged it received the idea but insists the company immediately rejected it work in to. Recent scandals to many Democrats and to the Florida Public Service Commission customers and %... & amp ; Light Eric Silagy, to consultants involved in the US a! Residents into the New year negative is the immense amount of megawatts, but a! A threat to the traditional utility business model, Southern company, have commented those...
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