Those who provoked the utilitys ire suffered a harsh response. Alabama Power still hasnt had a rate case. I looked at the language. Hannah Morse covers consumer issues for The Palm Beach Post. Pairing solar energy centers with battery storage, including the worlds largest battery in Manatee County. In 2015, Matrix distributed fliers for a suspicious charity in a predominantly Black neighborhood in North Birmingham. A Birmingham mayor who employed Matrix got 15 years for bribery, conspiracy and fraud. Under Bradleys bill, net-metering customers whose solar panels deliver energy back to the utility grid would no longer receive credits based on the retail cost of energy, but instead receive credits based on a lower wholesale cost. One person affiliated with Grow United is Abbie MacIver, who formerly worked for Energy Fairness, a group that encourages policymakers to consider the cost of energy choices, as well as their benefits. Last year, McClure sent a letter to state regulators at the Florida Public Service Commission citing the result and urging it to update its net-metering rule. We are investing in clean energy because its the right thing to do for our customers. A Democratic state senator was proposing a law that could cut into Florida Power & Lights (FPL) profits. "I think it took a toll," Ketchum said Wednesday of the multiple crises. Perkins has repeatedly denied leaking records, though he has verified the authenticity of numerous records underlying recent stories by the Times-Union, Orlando Sentinel and Floodlight, a nonprofit investigative news outlet. And the job was to come with one key hitch: To accept it, Dennis would have to leave his council position. Later, in 2019, when JEA executives were preparing to announce their intention to put the agency up for sale, Matrix employees drew up another radical idea. Meanwhile, groups aligned with the utility falsely tied Dunn to the Obama administrations efforts to reduce the use of coal. F lorida Power & Light is an investor owned company. The committee donated $25,000 to DeSantis political committee on the next day. The solar industry companies that make, sell, install, lease and maintain rooftop solar equipment is fighting back fiercely, suggesting that the bill will devastate its business. With these facilities, FPL replaced inefficient 20th-century coal plants and weaned itself off foreign imported oil. "When you think about all the challenges that he had to overcome, with the hurricanes and high natural gas prices and inflation and supply chain and, you know, the media allegations and all those things, I think it took a toll on Eric that year," Ketchum said during a question-and-answer session on the call. Former FPL senior executive Armando Pimentel was named as Silagy's replacement. 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 complained bitterly about the news coverage of the leaked records, and there is little indication its parent company, NextEra, is reflective about what the records have to say about the involvement of its largest subsidiaryandits highest-level executives. Ive also.ccd Gera Peoples on this note. Its a tough, and expensive, goal to achieve, Patino-Echeverri said. Florida Power & Light has also invested millions into groups with untraceable, anonymous donors that launched attacks on state and local politicians. What we dont think about is gas has to be brought up from the earth. FPL did not respond to requests for comment by deadline. In all, the centerproduces enough electricity for 750,000 homes and businesses. Moving Florida toward a brighter energy future. So they opted instead for Mayor Stoddards electoral defeat and changing the makeup of the board, according to a 2018 memo from Dan Newman, a Matrix contractor who was similarly involved in the campaign against Rodrguez. McGrath added that the companys move toward cleaner energy sources is a march, not a sprint.. Get the FPL Mobile App. The last year of Silagy's leadership was marked by high natural gas prices; the global supply chain crisis; two disastrous hurricanes; and a barrage of damning media reports. Run by a former Rick Scott spokesman, Brian Burgess, The Capitolist often focused criticism not on powerful industry players or politicians but on individual journalists at publications like the Miami Herald, Palm Beach Post and Times-Union that had crossed the interests of one of the state's large corporations, like FPL. It's easy to pay your bill, view your energy usage, manage your account and more. Thats not where the story ends, however, or the whole picture. With Gulf Power in hand, FPL would serve more than 12 million customers more than half the population of the third largest state in the country. "Based on information in our possession, we believe that FPL would not be found liable for any of the Florida Campaign finance law violations as alleged in the media articles," Ketchum said. Upon realizing the extent of Pittss shadow operations and abuses of power, we filed our lawsuit against Pitts and those few rogue employees.. FPL has acknowledged it received the idea but insists the company immediately rejected it. The company provided The Palm Beach Post with 2019 data on emissions and energy production at power plants, including its own, which was in line with the source of the 2020 data used by Find Energy. 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, FirstEnergy CEO Steven Strah emailed about under the radar House Bill 6 provision that cost Ohio ratepayers millions of dollars. In the Northeast corner of the state, a young, first-termRepublican mayor in Jacksonville was eager to solicit proposals to privatize city services none more enticing than the city's century-old municipal utility, JEA, one of the largest public electric, water and sewer utilities in the United States and a prize FPL had long sought. Very early on in this bills ride, I think it has a real chance to settle out in a way that most parties are not upset, he said. FPL's former consultants orchestrated a financial takeover of a small Tallahassee-based political news site with a conservativebent that allowed the utility's highest executives to weigh in with editorial decisions, the internal Matrix records show. One industry consulting firm has influenced politics across Florida, Alabama and at least six other states. Drop a line athmorse@pbpost.com, call 561-820-4833 or follow her on Twitter@mannahhorse. Florida Power & Light has pushed back against efforts to bring solar panels to the Sunshine State, while runoff from the sugar industry is a major source of water pollution in Florida.. Many of the documents have since been verified by additional reporting, public records or Perkins himself. Pitts, who left Matrix in December 2020 to start his own firm, Canopy Partners, did not respond to a request for comment by deadline. Bradley is married to former state Sen. Florida Power & Light denied any wrongdoing related to political campaigns. It was based on our discussion, and it was one that I could support as a starting point, she recalled. Such a turn in the political tidecould be particularly dire for a regulated company like FPL, whose literal fortunes rise and fall on the decisions made by the Public Service Commission appointees of the governor who must sign off on any number of high-stakes operational and financial issues for Florida's private utilities, starting with electric rates. That is your choice, but rest assured, we will hold you accountable if that continues to happen. He was previously the chief financial officer for NextEra Energy and FPL and led NextEra Energy Resources, the parent company's renewable resources arm, for eight years. They proposed offering a job to Garrett Dennis, a member of the Jacksonville City Council who had been outspoken against selling JEA. 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. [] NextAmid Connections to Ongoing Election Scandals, NextEra Pours Millions into Floridas 2022 []. In comparison, the top carbon-emitting plant on the list is a coal-powered one in Missouri that produced 16.5 million megawatt hours of energy but emitted almost 1,009 kilograms of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour less energy, but more emissions. Please provide us with the Personal Identification Number (PIN) that you were given for a co-browse session with our representative. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License by Energy and Policy Institute. 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. Money from the company also covertly secured favorable media coverage, investigations by the Orlando Sentinel, the Miami Herald, the Guardian, NPR, and Floodlight found. 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. NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik reported this story with Mario Ariza of Floodlight, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates the powerful interests stalling climate action. At the same time, getting to 100% elimination of greenhouse gas emissions for the energy sector is very hard to do with just renewables. I am concerned that it will result in significant costs here, but I also dont want to destroy the rooftop solar industry in Florida.. In 2020,the plant generated 19.7 million megawatt hours of energy and had an emissions rate of 371.3 kilograms of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour. The email was forwarded on to Silagy,though there is no indication the company seriously entertained Burgess' idea. Join the New Times community and help support Investigative reporters have directly connected senior FPL executives, including CEO Eric Silagy, to consultants involved in the dark money campaign schemes. As for Silagy's departure, Ketchum said, "It's a little earlier than Eric would've wanted to do it.". It backed a failed ballot amendment in 2016 that would have allowed regulators to impose fees and barriers to rooftop solar installation. 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. The plan ultimately failed, and Stoddard was re-elected. 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. That cost is based on the avoided cost that the utility would have incurred if it were to install a comparable system. 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. Perkins called Matrixs work for the utility confidential. Pitts in turn has accused Perkins of defamation and of leaking confidential records to the media. and help keep the future of New Times, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our. one of the largest contributors to legislative Florida political campaigns, would have allowed regulators to impose fees and barriers to rooftop solar installation. Just in December, the Public Service Commission approved a request from FPL to recover costs from customers due to a 10% increase in natural gas prices. The sex worker later testified the allegations were untrue, and that she had been paid by a Birmingham businessman to make them. Customers at the time were paying some of the highest rates for electricity in the south-east. January 25, 2023 That gave Matrix consultants and FPL executives input on Capitolist stories. Ketchum also reiterated that when he was named to the NextEra CEO role after Jim Robo stepped down, Silagy had committed to Ketchum that he would lead FPL for at least one more year. Three people were federally convicted for their role in the ploy. Another factor is promoting energy efficiency at the consumer level, Shober said. 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. They dont make money off of the solar power generated from rooftops. Developing a green hydrogen plant on the site of the former Indiantown coal plant. Under Floridas current arrangement, homes and businesses that generate less than 2 megawatts of solar power can sell the excess back to their utility in exchange for a bill credit of 11 cents per kWh. See How. 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. Reported contribution totals over $100k as of September 7, 2022, from the Florida Division of Elections Campaign Finance Database. But utility experts have testified to the Florida Public Service Commission that rooftop solar in the state could grow at a rate of 39 percent a year until 2025 if Floridas current net metering system is left in place. Terry Dunn wanted to examine why Alabama Power charged some of the highest rates in the country. "I want you to make his life a living hell seriously," Silagy wrote in a 2019 email to two of his vice-presidents about one of the Democratic state senators whose 2020 electoral contest was complicated by a spoiler candidate. FPL's financials remain strong. Ricardo Rossello, governor of Puerto Rico, in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, as power was being restored to a neighborhood in February 2018, five months after Hurricane Irma struck the area. 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. For many years and without my knowledge or approval, Pitts abused his power and position to benefit himself and his cronies, Perkins said in a statement. Yet great amounts of power come at a price. Currently, 5,779,202 consumers receive their electricity from the company. 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. Matrix employees spent heavily on political advertisements for a candidate with the same last name as Rodrguez, who split the vote. The company anticipates the panels will be able to generate 11,657 megawatts. Bradley filed the bill in November. FPL has repeatedly denied any involvement in the "ghost candidate" controversy stemming from the 2020 election cycle, but Matrix records show the company's consultants were deeply involved. Along with a private investigator, the group delved into Stoddards past for episodes to weaponize against him, such as a South Miami commissioners claim on Facebook that Stoddard had forcibly kissed her. Rooftop solar, while critical to fighting climate change, is a threat to the traditional utility business model. On Oct. 8, Bradleys legislative aide Katie Heffley emailed Holley with the subject line: Net Metering Bill., Good afternoon, Hope youre doing well, she said. The complaint implicated Florida Power & Light in election law violations because of alleged attempts to obscure the source of the political donations. At the start of Monday's earnings call, Ketchum, the chief executive officer of NextEra, addressed media reports and the federal election grievance head-on. Forgive me for being unserious at a time when companies like Florida Power & Light (FPL)the nation's largest utilitykeep racking up scandals, but it's kind of hard to keep track of the. Header Image Credit: YouTube, 10 Tampa Bay. Nate Monroe is a metro columnist whose work regularly appears every Thursday and Sunday. 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. 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