Legislators pass legislation, she said. Developing a green hydrogen plant on the site of the former Indiantown coal plant. ", FPL lauds its reliability and maintains it has the lowest electricity rates in the country. But Dennis, in an interview last year, recalled receiving a job offer with remarkable similarities to the one outlined in the internal Matrix documents. Pimentel will rejoin the company on Feb. 15 and work with Silagy until his departure. Southern Company and Alabama Power run the state of Alabama, Dunn said. FPL has been ensnaredin public scandal over aggressive political tactics that Florida newspapers have laid bare since late last year. Indeed, the company's future looked bright. "I think it took a toll," Ketchum said Wednesday of the multiple crises. Going through those tens of thousands ofrecords, he said, alerted him to the extent of work Pitts performed without his knowledge. 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. 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. So far, there have been two criminal investigations into the campaign against Rodrguez and another Democratic state senate candidate, leading to charges against five people, though authorities have not accused Matrix or FPL of wrongdoing. 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. Too, FPL has not set a goal to reduce its emissions to zero because we believe in setting measurable and achievable goals, McGrath said. "The way I look at it is it's a little earlier than I would have hoped Eric would have wanted to do it.". Burning natural gas results in about half of the carbon dioxide emissions of burning coal, which also releases harmful metals and gases into the environment. 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. Bradley filed the bill in November. TALLAHASSEE Recent revelations about Florida Power & Light's involvement in a dark money scheme to siphon votes away from Senate Democratic candidates prompted its parent company to conduct. We'll get them back on Check the FPL Power Tracker for updates on any outages in your area or report one to us. Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida Florida is one of 47 states that allow households and businesses that produce power to sell it back to the grid at a set rate. Map showing route taken by Matrix LLC to oust Jose Javier Rodriguez from office. 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. Yet he acknowledged that the reports may have had an influence on the decision. Methane is 25 times stronger at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, according to the EPA. In 2013, Terry Dunn, a Republican electricity regulator at Alabamas Public Service Commission made moves to hold formal hearings on how customers energy bills were calculated something that hadnt happened in three decades. Three people were federally convicted for their role in the ploy. Leaked records in the possession of that consulting firm show that Matrix employees worked behind the scenes in cities across Florida for years to advance FPL's interests, sometimes going to extreme lengths to manipulate the political process in the utility's favor. 'Off-the-books political strategy':FPL consultants secretly took command, control of Florida news website, reports say, Nate Monroe:Surveillance records at the heart of a tangled mess between FPL and a former consultant. Header Image Credit: YouTube, 10 Tampa Bay. While the transition to natural gas has reduced emissions that would otherwise come from oil or gas, and installing utility-scale solar is an important step, getting to zero emissions takes a lot more than that, she said. I feel rooftop solar is beneficial to the environment, and Floridians. 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. Its also up to us to push them more. Alabama Power still hasnt had a rate case. A Birmingham mayor who employed Matrix got 15 years for bribery, conspiracy and fraud. In Perkins telling, he was getting ready to hand over leadership of Matrix in December 2020 when Pitts surprised him by leaving the firm, taking three employees as well as most of Matrixs Florida-based clients with him to launch Canopy. Landlords would be able to sell cheap rooftop solar power directly to their tenants bypassing FPL and its monopoly on electricity. It ranks third among states for installed solar capacity, although much of that is large-scale, utility-owned solar. More recently, the company hired an outside law firm to look more broadly at the company's actions. In the Southeast, power company money flows to news sites that attack their critics, She was an ABC News producer. While the West County Energy Center ranked 29th on this list for emitting more than 7.3 billion kilograms of carbon dioxide in 2020, equivalent to emissions from nearly 1.6 million passenger cars, FPL is also correct when it says the facilityis among the most efficient power plants in the country. Consultants who control Grow United billed FPL for over $3 million before the entity started moving funds around for the election scheme. Florida Power & Light customers who paid $101.70 last year for a typical monthly bill of 1,000 . The company anticipates the panels will be able to generate 11,657 megawatts. "We contributeto organizations where we're aligned on what the ultimate goal is, and from the standpoint of having the Senate at the time, who was being led by (Senate President) Wilton Simpson, continue to be able to be led by Wilton Simpson,I was a fan of that," FPL CEO Eric Silagy, recently told me and several other journalists with the Times-Union, Orlando Sentinel and Floodlight in a wide-ranging interview in Jacksonville. Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images View dataset here. We took a 1960s-gas guzzling Cadillac and we replaced it with a Ford Focus hybrid, McGrath said. 11:52AM. Higher electricity bills welcomed millions of Florida residents into the new year. Out of this, the FPL executive told Burgess, according to the Herald. We're making smart, long-term investments to stabilize energy costs, lower carbon emissions, and make Florida energy independent. invested millions into groups with untraceable, anonymous donors that launched attacks on state and local politicians. 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. 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.. "It's a 24-hour day job. 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. An organization that acts like a mafia should be treated like one, Stoddard said.In a statement, Newman acknowledged managing the campaign against Stoddard and hiring a private investigator to look into the former mayors personal life. 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. You need this large power plant.. 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." 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. After an early round of reports, NextEra commissioned an internal investigation into the allegations against Silagy and Florida Power & Light in Florida. 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. As such, it would seem the FPL plantsinclusion on the list is unfair. The mayor, Lenny Curry, was ideologically predisposed to privatize a large government agency like JEA, and both the official and political arms of his office were surrounded by friends of FPL. 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 commission held a workshop, which drew 16,000 messages from solar advocates urging it to leave the net metering program alone. "Based on the information we have, we . 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 help keep the future of New Times, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our. 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 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. 0:00. 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. In all races, the Republican won the election. And then apparently, somewhere along the way, Jeff and Joe got sideways, Silagy said. Media scrutiny of the company's political giving began shortly after the 2020 election, when a trio of spoiler candidates tipped close state senate races toward candidates considered friendly to Florida Power & Light. In California, regulators plan to increase fees on rooftop solar customers. 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. Bob Self/Florida Times-Union. The plan ultimately failed, and Stoddard was re-elected. "JEA is broken," the group boasted on its website, where it posted Times-Union coverage of the utility's involvement in an over-budget, behind-schedule nuclear project in Georgia. That gave Matrix consultants and FPL executives input on Capitolist stories. The proposed bill would allow landlords to sell cheap solar panels to their tenants. Letsgetstarted. Bradley said the bill language emerged after a meeting she had with Holley and other members of the utility industry. 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. Customer Support. Florida is one of 47 states that allow households and businesses that produce power to sell it back to the grid at a set rate. The company conducted an internal investigation and "found no evidence of any issues at all, any illegality or any wrongdoing on the part of FPL or any of its employees. Its parent company, NextEra Energy, has commissioned two separate investigations - one internal, one by an outside law firm - following reporting by Florida newspapers, the non-profit news outlet Floodlight and NPR. The sites publisher, Brian Burgess, a former top spokesperson for past Florida governor Rick Scott, also suggested in emails that Matrix should lure prominent Florida journalists to a new site or buy local papers owned by media giant Gannett Company and then lay off most of the clown reporters to inject content into publications without anyone knowing who was pulling the strings. In 2020, FPL would help Florida Republicans keep control of the state Senate by contributing to several close races, in the process dispatching one of the few incumbents who was publicly critical of the company. Learn More About FPL News Company Careers Environment Community Donate to Care To Share Rates and Your Bill About Energy Energy My Way Ensuring Reliability Clean Energy Solar Electric Vehicles Power Disturbances Safety Partner Resources Supplier Home and Login PIC Login He added thatcarbon dioxide is emitted from burning natural gas, which isa fossil fuel, andis being created whether theyre scrubbing or storing it.. This plant has been part of the solution.. 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. Around for the election scheme showing route taken by Matrix LLC to Jose... Stoddard was re-elected the future of new times, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our solar to... 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