Perry has received $13,500 in direct political donations from Florida utilities, including $1,000 from NextEra, $2,500 from NextEra company Gulf Power, $4,500 from Duke, and $5,500 from TECO, according to campaign finance filings. 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. Earlier this month, the reporting by the Orlando Sentinel, Florida Times-Union, and the Miami Herald prompted four Democratic lawmakers to ask state regulators to conduct an audit of FPL, the largest utility company in the nation and a monopoly regulated by the Florida Public Service Commission. 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. Florida Power & Light has a monopoly on power in Florida. He also was instrumental in the 2019 political campaign against the so-called energy choice petition drive, which was opposed by FPL and other utilities. Entergy, which donated $10,000 to the Party and [], [] has not shied away from shady political dealings in the past. Consultants who control Grow United billed FPL for over $3 million before the entity started moving funds around for the election scheme. The numbers really are very, very clear here, said Anand Gopal, executive director of strategy and policy for the think tank Energy Innovation. Simpson, through the FRSCC, then paid $7.2 million of this money to longtime ally Pat Bainterand Gainesville, Florida-based Republican campaign firm Data Targeting, reportedly directingthem to use the funds to support three independent candidates who would run as purportedliberals to siphon votes away from the legitimate Democrat Party candidate. Rodrguez lost his Senate seat the following year, resulting in Republicans gaining control of the Florida Senate. Kirk Crews, CFO, NextEra Energy NEE -0.6%. We can do so much more on student loan forgiveness. Ive been spending time in Williamsport, Ohio, to look at the debate over the solar proposal. The company, which has its main office in Spain, is hinting at job cuts, as Isla Binnie reports for Reuters. I dont expect much of a change, leaving aside all of the stuff going on with the outgoing CEO, Patterson said. 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Director, Pres & CEO of Sub of Nextera Energy Inc (30-Year Financial, Insider Trades) Eric E Silagy (insider trades) sold 28,564 shares of NEE on 03/15/2021 at an average price of $75.63 a share. This is a very good deal for the climate.. A look at the changing global population. In 2018, state Sen. Keith Perry won re-election against Democrat Kayser Enneking by about 2,000 votes, due in large part to a third-party former Democrat candidate likely pulling votes away from Enneking. Since then, the legislature replaced the previous leader of that office, J.R. Kelly, with a former utility lobbyist, Richard Gentry. The papers also reported that a member of the Jacksonville City Council who didnt want to sell the citys utility company to FPL was offered a job that was arranged by consultants for FPL in an unsuccessful attempt to get him to resign from the commission. The most comprehensive solution to manage all your complex and ever-expanding tax and compliance needs. With the Florida state senate hanging in the balance in the 2020 election, a network of dark-money groups engineered a brazen scheme to siphon votes from Democrats to third-party ghost candidates in three of Floridas legislative elections, all of which were won by Republicans, two by razor-thin margins. In one case, one of those three committees got $115,000 from an Associated Industries-controlled group and immediately paid $104,909 to Alvarado Strategies, the Sentinel reported. Im eager to see whats yet to come, and whether it leads to changes in the way FPL does business. For example, Richard Alexander, who lives in Cullman, Ala., and not only chairs Grow United, he also has been tied to groups that were created to promote the agenda of Floridas powerful sugar and electric utilities industries, according to the Orlando Sentinel. JUNO BEACH, Fla., Nov. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: NEP) today announced that it has entered into an agreement with a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC to . 7,400 gallons of wastewater spilled into Johns Pass. Prior to his resignation, Artiles fast-tracked pro-utility bills as former chairman of the Florida Senates Communications, Energy and Public Utilities Committee, including one that would have allowed NextEra to charge its Florida customers for exploratory fracking in Oklahoma, an attempted end-run around a Florida Supreme Court ruling against FPL on the matter. But it will be take more than a change of guard for the utility to shake off the scandals that took place under Silagy, said Schafer. He helped build NextEra Energy Resources and seemed to choose his retirement as opposed to being forced out, the former colleague said. Inside Clean Energy is ICNs weekly bulletin of news and analysis about the energy transition. 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. Republican Ileana Garcia won the election by 32 votes. The shady business practices of FPL, as well as the discrepancy between NextEra being a catalyst in the clean energy movement while FPL relies on fossil fuels, may not bode well. Their power over utilities in Florida was challenged by legislation proposed by the Democratic Senator of Florida, Jos Javier Rodrguez, in 2019. 11/22/2021. Both South Florida mailers for Alex Rodriguez and Celso Alfonso and Central Florida mailers for Jestine Iannotti featured identical text, focused on fixing health care, fighting climate change, and speaking truth to power. He grew up in Warren County, Iowa, just south of Des Moines, and lives in Columbus, Ohio. An internal NextEra investigation found no wrongdoing, executives on the companys latest earnings call said, adding that Silagys departure was unrelated to any controversies. 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. The third-party candidate in that race, Charles Goston, earned about 4,300 votes as an independent, despite being a lifelong Democrat. They cited the 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 PSCs own documents in the rate case. Operator: Good morning, and welcome to the NextEra Energy and NextEra Energy Partners Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Call. NextEra Energy is a total fraud, and veritably a criminal entity. The bill also creates a framework to add substantial fees to solar customers, charging them for an alleged cost-shift to non-solar customers. 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. Research and documents obtained and published by Orlando Sentinel reporters reveal that senior officials at Florida Power & Light (FPL), the largest electric utility in Florida, provided funding to the organization and consultants who engineered the spoiler candidates. We deliver climate news to your inbox like nobody else. 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 raid and arrest came months after Artiles took credit for placing the previously unknown third party candidate, Alex Rodriguez, in the race for Senate District 37, according to a source who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation, as reported by Miami Herald last December. If NextEra is to be the model of a sustainable energy giant, it must shed its brown assets. Now, the Lands Are Being Offered to Solar Companies. Mary Ellen Klas: meklas@miamiherald.com and @MaryEllenKlas. Sign up for Mary Ellens newsletter Politics and Policy in the Sunshine State. Description. 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 on Tuesday. The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals. The Florida Legislative Session begins January 11, 2022. John W. Ketchum Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer NextEra Energy, Inc. Chairman Florida Power & Light Company READ MORE Armando Pimentel President and Chief Executive Officer Watch the Florida Legislature live: The Florida Channel, a public affairs programming service funded by the Legislature, livestreams coverage at thefloridachannel.org. 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. Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile. 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 . It was also announced that Silagy, the president and CEO of FPL, will take on the added responsibility of chairman of FPL. 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. 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. Floridas largest utility has a lot of explaining to do after news organizations revealed some unseemly conduct. 2. Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau. "They probably chose him to be a steady the ship-type figure," said Jack Dearing, an analyst with Washington-based Capstone LLC, which advises investors and companies on policy issues. FPLs consultants used similar spoiler candidate tactics in the 2020 election cycle in three senate races throughout the state. We rely on donations from readers like you to keep going. Despite its position as a renewable energy generator, the company has been shrouded in controversy the most recent of which has to do with Florida Power & Light (FPL), one of the companies operating beneath them. Earlier this month, the reporting by the Orlando Sentinel, Florida Times-Union, and the Miami Herald, prompted four Democratic lawmakers to ask state regulators to conduct an audit of FPL, the largest utility company in the nation and a monopoly regulated by the Florida Public Service Commission. The bill outlines a reduction to the credit, which would dramatically limit the number of people who could affordably lease or buy panels. The documents also showed that Silagy coordinated with the political consultants to steer campaign contributions made through nonprofits in past elections. Date. That promise would allow the company to continue . FPLs response as well as the statements provided for the docket by the staff involved in the rate case audit, leave many questions and concerns for our constituents and Floridians at large, the legislators wrote. Contacted for a response, a NextEra spokesman did not address the issues at FPL or the potential for blowback for the parent company, but he did point to recent comments from Kirk Crews, NextEras chief financial officer. ICN provides award-winning climate coverage free of charge and advertising. Alissa Jean Schafer is a research and communications specialist at the Energy and Policy Institute. While FPL maintains they didnt know the full extent of what the firm was doing, piles of leaked emails and texts say otherwise. About NextEra Energy NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) is a leading clean energy company headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida. Nowhere in its 2021 ESG report does NextEra even mention methane . 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