Theres a recipe in triumph and tragedy, Company run out of a Brooklyn walk-up shorted Florida produce packers $159,000 in pay, What Is Chapter 13 Bankruptcy? Simply put, the PSC is charged with ensuring that the rates charged to customers by a utility are fair, just and reasonable, and that those rates are set at levels sufficient to recover only the prudently incurred costs to provide service, Baez wrote. The retirement and subsequent. Im interested in what happened with FPL, but Im also looking at whether this cascade of revelations could harm the utilitys parent company, NextEra Energy, which happens to be the largest generator of renewable energy in the United States, and maybe the world. To the larger question of NextEras public image, Pomerantz answers with a question: What happens when the companys reputation as an unethical actor extends to their clean energy efforts? he asked. Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Utility Front Group Advertisement Tracker, American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, Gas utilities push RNG and hydrogen to expand fossil fuel infrastructure, AGA uses millions of dollars from utility customers to promote a fossil fuel agenda, Internal documents detail how gas utilities greenwash RNG and hydrogen, Front groups and trade associations funded by gas utilities fight electrification policies, List of deceptive RNG and hydrogen projects, Major investors warn utilities against carbon capture and offsets, obtained and published by Orlando Sentinel, According to reporting from the Orlando Sentinel. The no-party candidate, Alexis Alex Rodriguez, who did not campaign, received more than 6,000 votes. The Miami Herald and others reported claims that company executives worked with a consultant to derail certain state senate candidates and surveil a journalist who wrote critically about the regulated utility. If trust in NextEra dwindlesand seemingly it has, if stock recommendations are anything to judge bypeople might be less willing to consider the installation of a wind farm in their community. He was previously chief financial officer of NextEra Energy, a partner at Deloitte & Touche and an accounting fellow at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In response to the stories, FPL has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. The state recently joined New York and California in passing such laws, eliciting both support and pushback. The Office of Public Counsel, which advocates on behalf of Florida utility customers, also stated that it was a net benefit in that same workshop. Mary Ellen Klas is the state Capitol bureau chief for the Miami Herald, where she covers government and politics and focuses on investigative and accountability reporting. Artiles accepted over $30,000 in political contributions from Florida utilities throughout his time in office, including $6,000 from NextEra, $4,500 from TECO, and $4,000 from Duke Energy in direct contributions. A former NextEra colleague of Pimentel's, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Pimentel was a "straightforward, fact-based and driven" coworker with a calm temperament. A former NextEra colleague of Pimentels, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Pimentel was a straightforward, fact-based and driven coworker with a calm temperament. FPLs relationship with two political nonprofit committees Grow United and Lets Preserve the American Dream has come under recent scrutiny as part of a criminal investigation by the Miami-Dade County state attorney into a ghost candidate scandal. Watch the Florida Legislature live: The Florida Channel, a public affairs programming service funded by the Legislature, livestreams coverage at thefloridachannel.org. That scheme included over half a million dollars spent on political mailers promoting the spoiler candidates. Their power over utilities in Florida was challenged by legislation proposed by the Democratic Senator of Florida, Jos Javier Rodrguez, in 2019. Armando Pimentel, who held executive roles in finance at NextEra for more than a decade before retiring in 2019, is coming . Send news tips and questions to dan.gearino@insideclimatenews.org. Other utilities have tried similar strategies, but none have done it on the scale of NextEra. Pasco park restaurant plans must wait for study of nearby burial mound, Tampa race has 4 candidates, including 2 council veterans, seeking open seat, St. Petersburg, Tampa Bay Rays to discuss these 9 topics about Tropicana Field, Rays Tyler Glasnow sustains oblique injury during practice, Hillsborough must right-size its school system | Editorial. We know about FPLs actions thanks to reporting by the Orlando Sentinel, Miami Herald and The Florida Times-Union, some of it in partnership with the nonprofit Floodlight. At NextEras fourth-quarter earnings call with financial analysts, Julien Patrick Dumoulin-Smith of Bank of America Securities asked Robo if he could share around some of the headlines pertaining to FPL here? If NextEra is to be the model of a sustainable energy giant, it must shed its brown assets. Additionally, the bill limits any grandfathering into the current policy to ten years, while many systems in Florida are financed beyond that timeframe, which means that customers who bought solar panels under the current net metering policy would see the value of their investments sharply decrease. They remained that way until they took a stake in early wind farms in exchange for canceling the debts owed to them. Bainter was also heavily involved in Perrys campaign and was suspected by some observers to have orchestrated the funding behind Gostons third-party candidacy, which may have included funds connected to a utility front group. NextEras fourth-quarter earnings call with financial analysts, Robo announced he will be retiring from his position on March 1, PSC Executive Director Braulio Baez responded, Support my work with a digital subscription, Exclusive: Last grass lot on Miamis Brickell Avenue sells for $6 million. "I don't expect much of a change, leaving aside all of the stuff going on with the outgoing CEO," Patterson said. In 2018-19, Mary Ellen was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. That promise would allow the company to continue . Its useless at this time because theres nothing out there and the cars that you do find, everythings gone up in price.. 2. NextEra Energy Inc., the largest U.S. utility by market cap and one of the world's top solar and wind power producers, has been called out for never declaring a net-zero emissions target like many other major power utilities have done. If trust in NextEra dwindlesand seemingly it has, if stock recommendations are anything to judge bypeople might be less willing to consider the installation of a wind farm in the. Veterans for Conservative Principles treasurer was Dave Ramba, whose firm Ramba Consulting Group has lobbied for FPL for years. Even if you put somebody who is a perfectly fine individual with a financial background and doesnt have this aggressive history it doesnt necessarily make up for the fact of all that did happen in very recent history, Schafer said. NextEra Energy CEO James Robo responded to a question from a Bank of America Securities analyst and said the company had FPL CEO Eric Silagy turn over emails and text messages and concluded. Sign up for our newsletter: Get Capitol Buzz, a special bonus edition of The Buzz with Emily L. Mahoney, each Saturday while the Legislature is meeting. as reported by the Energy and Policy Institute. The documents also showed that Silagy coordinated with the political consultants to steer campaign contributions made through nonprofits in past elections. Watchdog exposing the attacks on renewable energy and countering misinformation by fossil fuel interests, Artiles close relationship with NextEra Energy and Florida Power & Light included NASCAR perks, campaign contributions. NextEra Energy CEO James Robo responded to a question from a Bank of America Securities analyst and said the company had FPL CEO Eric Silagy turn over emails and text messages and concluded there was no evidence of illegality or wrongdoing on the part of FPL or any of its employees.. Canopy was started by former Matrix employees, led by Jeff Pitts. NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript. Crews said last month in a call with analysts that he is confident in the companys long-term plan to continue increasing development of wind, solar and batteries. An early adopter of renewable power generation, NextEra is the third-largest U.S. energy company by market capitalization behind Exxon Mobil and Chevron. Inside Climate News uses cookies. NEW YORK, Feb 28(Reuters) - The new head of Florida Power & Light (FP&L) has at least one important objective above and beyond running U.S. power giant NextEra's crown jewel utility, analysts say: stay out of the headlines. Artiles is facing several felony charges for allegedly recruiting and paying an auto-parts dealer who shared the same surname as the Democratic incumbent in the race for Senate District 37 to run as a no-party candidate and confuse voters and influence the outcome of the 2020 election, according to his arrest affidavit. Goston claimed he did not know or care where the money supporting his candidacy came from, according to the Gainesville Sun. If you havent already subscribed, please consider buying a print or digital subscription. It was also announced that Silagy, the president and CEO of FPL, will take on the added responsibility of chairman of FPL. I dont think youre going to see any headlines like that (with Pimentel). Pimentel was CEO of NextEra Energy Resources, the companys unregulated arm focused on renewable power, for eight years before retiring in 2019. NextEra's renewable arm, NextEra Energy Resources, had about 5,000 employees by the end of 2019, not counting construction jobs for new projectsinformation the company doesn't disclose . At NextEras fourth-quarter earnings call with financial analysts, Julien Patrick Dumoulin-Smith of Bank of America Securities asked Robo if he could share around some of the headlines pertaining to FPL here? $5,000 from investor-owned utilities went to the campaign account directly: $1,000 from NextEra, $2,000 from Duke, and $2,000 from TECO. Each wind energy facility includes a collection of wind turbines that, put simply, rapidly rotate to create energy. Almost immediately, FPL reached out to the CEO of Matrix, LLC a political consulting firm. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. The mailers featured similar language that appeared to target progressive voters, pulling from the Democratic candidate, as reported by the Miami Herald and Orlando Sentinel. According to reporting from the Orlando Sentinel, a broad criminal investigation is underway in Miami, with felony charges against former Senator Frank Artiles, and the spoiler candidate in District 37 has pled guilty. The documents also showed that Silagy coordinated with the political consultants to steer campaign contributions made through nonprofits in past elections. AIF has close financial ties to Floridas investor owned utilities, as EPI has documented. It depends on how trustworthy community members find NextEra in the coming months and how that support affects any proposed clean energy legislation. But nobody brought up FPLs alleged skulduggery during the hearing. 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