Alabama political firm and former NextEra consultant Matrix LLC, led by Joe Perkins, sued Canopy LLC, another firm allegedly working with NextEra. The settlement is the end result of a . 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. Can the PSC provide a complete list of 501(c)4 social welfare organizations that FPL has provided funding to over the past five years? 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. It begs the question of who the PSC serves is it Floridians or is it utility companies?. 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. CTRL + SPACE for auto-complete. relationship with two political nonprofit committees Grow United, shown that as part of the ghost candidate scheme. [] Click here to view original web page at http://www.energyandpolicy.org [], [] Its not clear yet whether law enforcement officials are investigating FPL or its executives for their involvement in the ghost candidate scheme, though the scandal has already resulted in criminal charges for some of its parties. The state senate districts were 9, 37, and 39. The 145-mile (233-kilometer), nearly US$1 billion transmission line, known as New England Clean Energy Connect, broke ground in February after nearly three . Despite climate action often being frustrated by Republican leaders in Congress and at the local level, states with Republican governors and a majority of Republican state legislators are leading the nation in solar and wind. Its video library also archives coverage for later viewing. The reports show that Florida Power & Light hired a political consulting firm that engaged in dirty tricks to harm or otherwise neutralize the companys perceived opponents, including elected officials and journalists. 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. Shares of NextEra sank late last month by nearly 9%, their biggest daily drop in more than two years, after the company abruptly announced Silagy would retire under the threat of a formal. Political editor Emily L. Mahoney will send you a rundown on local, state and national politics coverage every Thursday. Please support our work with a digital subscription. 10 Takeaways from the IEA's Newest World Energy Outlook. In one Orlando Sentinel article, Silagy was accused of working with a political consultant to harass a Democratic state senator who introduced legislation unfavorable to FP&L. That political power has helped FPL to secure a return on equity of 10.6% in the latest rate increases that it secured from regulators much higher than the national average for utilities. The reporting also found that the same FPL consultants have been involved in setting up front groups to advance FPLs political agenda, and paid activists to promote FPLs interests. I know theres been a lot of back and forth and perhaps theres a lot of context to provide there. Dumoulin-Smith is director of U.S. Power, Utilities and Alternative Energy Equity Research for Bank of American Securities. ICN provides award-winning climate coverage free of charge and advertising. This reporting has raised significant questions around the potential of ratepayer funds being used to not only influence elections but to undermine democracy through fake candidate schemes, astroturfing, and attempted bribes, wrote state Reps. Anna Eskamani, Carlos Guillermo Smith, Angie Nixon and Travaris McCurdy. Veterans for Conservative Principles treasurer was Dave Ramba, whose firm Ramba Consulting Group has lobbied for FPL for years. Canopy quickly filed its own lawsuit against Matrix. The Senate District 37 scandal was one of three races in Florida in the 2020 cycle that followed a nearly identical pattern: A close race, an unknown third party candidate to siphon some of the votes, and campaign mailers attacking the Democratic candidate, all paid for by new, out-of-state political committees. Definition & Eligibility, Norwegian Plans Pricing Move That Royal Caribbean, Carnival Might Follow. They cited utilities expert Karl Rabagos testimony in the rate case, in which he noted that FPL spent millions of dollars in dues paid to certain politically active trade associations and cited the commissions own documents in the rate case. 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 find electric utilities are not on track to meet decarbonization goals. NextEra Energy is the largest generator of renewable energy in the United States and possibly the world. Fargo, ND, USA / The Mighty 790 KFGO | KFGO. That's a tax rate of just 1.25 percent over that period, when the . The documents also showed that Silagy coordinated with the political consultants to steer campaign contributions made through nonprofits in past elections. We take all allegations seriously, and weve found no evidence that either FPL or our employees had any involvement in, financially supported, or directed any third party to support ghost candidates during last years Florida election cycle, he said. They remained that way until they took a stake in early wind farms in exchange for canceling the debts owed to them. Rodrguez lost his Senate seat the following year, resulting in Republicans gaining control of the Florida Senate. 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. 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. (Rooftop solar systems generally last for 25 years or longer.) 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? Mexican developer wants to build condos on the land starting at $3 million apiece. Simpson, a longtime beneficiary of FPL political giving, may have spent NextEra-originatedfunds, with FPL knowledge, to pay off individuals with knowledge of his illegitimate child inwhat was reportedly known internally as Operation Ginger. The goal of these efforts appearto be to prevent the public from learning about the Senate Presidents indiscretions prior to hisascension to the top position in the state Legislature. NextEra Energy sets industry-leading Real Zero goal to eliminate carbon emissions from its operations, leverage low-cost renewables to drive energy affordability for customers. Republican Ileana Garcia won the election by 32 votes. That promise would allow the company to continue . Sources report that the current NextEra investigation may be part of a wider probe into ethicalcomplaints against Simpson, the Senate President, including allegations that campaign moneywas spent to cover the fact that he fathered a child out of wedlock with a lobbyist for the Publixsupermarket chain. Inside Climate News uses cookies. FPL CEO Eric Silagy appears to have personally directed money to the web of dark money groups, with records showing correspondence from Silagy to the consultants directly. While it is not illegal to conspire to place a third-party candidate into an election, paying for that placement and failing to properly report the money involved is. Date. NextEra Energy announces agreement to sell a 50% interest in an approximately 2,520-megawatt portfolio renewables project to a third party, highlighting the value of its best-in-class development program. 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. The reporting also found that the same FPL consultants have been involved in setting up front groups to advance FPLs political agenda, and paid activists to promote FPLs interests. Eskamani of Orlando said Baezs response left her unsatisfied. Entergy, which donated $10,000 to the Party [], [] has not shied away from shady political dealings in the past. Last month, I attended a public hearing for a NextEra solar proposal in central Ohio, and I saw how several backers of the project talked about the companys involvement as a good thing. The bill also creates a framework to add substantial fees to solar customers, charging them for an alleged cost-shift to non-solar customers. Life expectancy in the U.S. fell during the same period that a Reagan-era law raised the retirement age by two years. 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Ramba and his connections to FPL were criticized in 2017 when Artiles traveled on a plane, owned by Ramba, accompanied by John Holley, the director of state legislative affairs for FPL and a former lobbyist with Rambas firm, as reported by the Miami Herald. TALLAHASSEE Recent revelations about Florida Power & Lights involvement in a dark money scheme to siphon votes away from Senate Democratic candidates prompted its parent company to conduct an internal investigation, NextEra announced at an earnings call Tuesday. Campaign created by chips Armstrong Stop rewarding, and PUNISH those masquerading as renewable energy providers, like NextEra Energy Resources, formerly Florida Power & Light, and make them accountable for cleaning up their environmental carnage. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. Internal documents obtained by the Sentinel show that Silagy used a pseudonym email, Theodore Hayes, to communicate with consultant Jeff Pitts, who controlled Grow United, with the memos noting that one goal was to minimize all public reporting of entities and activities.. The Florida Public Service Commission reaffirmed the states current net metering rule in 2019 after the utilities last effort to weaken it, calling it an effective way to promote solar in the net-metering workshop held at the request of McClure. Description. I wonder if NextEras problems in Florida may eventually affect the perception of the company in other places. 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. Dan Gearino covers the midwestern United States, part of ICNs National Environment Reporting Network. Pimentel replaces outgoing FP&L CEO Eric Silagy, who joined NextEra roughly two decades ago, worked as a top lobbyist for the company and has been at the center of some of its publicity problems. 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. This is not the first cycle that a well-funded third party candidate has upset a campaign by a close margin, and its not the first where those candidates have had at least some connection to Artiles and Florida utilities. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License by Energy and Policy Institute. Since then, the legislature replaced the previous leader of that office, J.R. Kelly, with a former utility lobbyist, Richard Gentry. NextEra Energy Resources, LLC is a clean energy leader and is one of the largest wholesale generators of electric power in the U.S., with approximately 23,900 megawatts of total net generating . 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. So, thats probably all that were going to say on that today.. Since 2020, Florida-based news organizations have reported about FP&L's role in questionable political and campaign finance-related activity. While FPL maintains they didnt know the full extent of what the firm was doing, piles of leaked emails and texts say otherwise. NextEra, also based in Florida, has become a giant by racking up profits from its regulated utility business at FPL and using that as a foundation to build wind, solar and battery projects across. It was also announced that Silagy, the president and CEO of FPL, will take on the added responsibility of chairman of FPL. He came to ICN in 2018 after a nine-year tenure at The Columbus Dispatch, where he covered the business of energy. News images are from video content on CNNs YouTube Channel. Questions about recent news stories came up during NextEras fourth-quarter earnings call with financial analysts. I dont expect much of a change, leaving aside all of the stuff going on with the outgoing CEO, Patterson said. The company was implicated in a ghost candidate scheme in Florida that ousted a climate advocate from state office. I know theres been a lot of back and forth and perhaps theres a lot of context to provide there. Dumoulin-Smith is director of U.S. Power, Utilities and Alternative Energy Equity Research for Bank of American Securities. The scandal brings light to the measures electric companies will go to in order to protect their profits even those that claim to be in favor of pursuing renewable energy. As the biggest player in the game, investors, politicians, and civilians rely on NextEra to play a major role in encouraging and supporting clean energy legislation. "Even if you put somebody who is a perfectly fine individual with a financial background and doesn't have this aggressive history it doesn't necessarily make up for the fact of all that did happen in very recent history," Schafer said. 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. An early adopter of renewable power generation, NextEra is the third-largest U.S. energy company by market capitalization behind Exxon Mobil and Chevron. Since 2020, Florida-based news organizations have reported about FP&Ls role in questionable political and campaign finance-related activity. McClure also worked closely with utility front group Energy Fairness, as reported by the Energy and Policy Institute. 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. You can keep up with her work on her site Environment.co. Enforcement for funneling money through a partisan political committee to a ghost candidatescheme that has already resulted in felony charges against five political operatives. Before that, he covered politics and business in Iowa and in New Hampshire. To help figure this out, I reached out to David Pomerantz, who makes a living investigating utility companies as executive director of the Energy and Policy Institute, a nonprofit watchdog organization. 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