Go to the kitchen tables of America. The company was implicated in a ghost candidate scheme in Florida that ousted a climate advocate from state office. At NextEra Energy, we're committed to our core values of being committed to excellence, doing the right thing and treating people with respect. 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. Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology. FPL spokespeople denied that FPL had any role in the spoiler candidate scheme in a comment to the Sentinel. NEW YORK(Reuters) The new head of Florida Power & Light (FP&L) has at least one important objective above and beyond running U.S. power giant NextEras crown jewel utility, analysts say: stay out of the headlines. Broken Promises is one of only two groups that has contributed money to a Florida political committee called Consumers for Energy Fairness. Though the Florida Power & Light scandal is one of the more recent topics bringing NextEra to the forefront of public attention, the company is certainly no stranger to controversy. Robo responded: Sure, Julian, I think you know, on some of the Florida political headlines I think what Id like to say on that is pretty simple., He said that when the company received the report and those allegations that have been in the press, we conducted a very extensive and thorough investigation that included looking at company financial records and include looking at everyone who was named and its company emails. He said those involved all provided access to their personal emails and texts to us as part of that investigation., He concluded: The bottom line is we found no evidence of any issues at all, any illegality, or any wrongdoing on the part of FPL or any of its employees., Robo added that he felt very good about the investigation that we did, and I feel very good that there is, you know, no basis to any of these allegations. An internal NextEra investigation found no wrongdoing, executives on the company's latest earnings call said, adding that Silagy's departure was unrelated to any controversies. ESI Energy LLC, Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Nextera Energy Resources LLC, Is Sentenced After Pleading Guilty to Killing and Wounding Eagles in Its Wind Energy Operations, in Violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act | USAO-EDCA | Department of Justice Share Department of Justice U.S. Attorney's Office Eastern District of California NextEra Energy owns Florida Power & Light Company, which is America's largest electric utility that sells more power than any other utility, providing clean, affordable, reliable electricity to approximately 5.8 million customer accounts, or more than 12 million . 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. When asked if their companys money was used either for the third party candidates campaign or in payment to Artiles directly, Neil Nissan, a spokesperson for Duke Energy, stated that it was not. On Monday, PSC Executive Director Braulio Baez responded that its not the PSCs job to answer those questions and suggested that the questionable expenses come from shareholder funds, not ratepayers. Numerous studies have shown that rooftop solar provides a net-benefit to other, non-solar customers. If you havent already subscribed, please consider buying a print or digital subscription. Watchdog exposing the attacks on renewable energy and countering misinformation by fossil fuel interests. The races for Senate District 9 and 39 followed the same pattern. Heres the details, Miami Beach wants this nightclub to stop liquor sales at 2 a.m. Consumers for Energy Fairness does not have a website or any public presence, but it spent over $5,000 with the public affairs firm McNicholas & Associates on beverages and food in 2019. 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. Energy Fairness played a role in setting up an attack on rooftop solar in 2020, via Florida Representative Lawrence McClure. The legislators responded on Jan. 10, saying they considered the PSCs review incomplete given the news stories. The Orlando Sentinel connected Republican consultant Alex Alvarado, Jobs for Florida and Floridians for Economic Freedom, attack on rooftop solar in 2020, via Florida Representative Lawrence McClure, NextEra, Florida utilities closely aligned with election fraud suspect Frank Artiles DangerousWombatDream, NextEra, Florida utilities closely aligned with election fraud suspect Frank Artiles shoukhin vlog, Records Show Senior Florida Power & Light Execs Closely Connected to Election Scandals - Energy and Policy Institute, Louisiana Democratic Party Funneled Utility Donations to Climate Candidate Challenger - DeSmog, Louisiana Democratic Party Funneled Utility Donations to Climate Candidate Challenger | Climate Change, Louisiana Democratic Party funneled utility donations to climate candidate's - Tools for Investors | News, Louisiana Democratic Party Funneled Utility Donations to Climate Candidate Challenger CommunistNews.net, Louisiana Democratic Party funneled utility donations to climate candidate challenger - Verite, Michigan utilities front groups begin misleading ad campaigns ahead of a vote on energy legislation. We got into this program and its not helping like its supposed to, said Quintin Nelms, who has faced a long wait for his rebate. Download. NextEra Energy Newsroom. 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. Bradleys political committee, Women Building the Future, has taken $47,500 from investor-owned utilities, with $12,500 coming from NextEra Energy and $35,000 from TECO. History of Power: Duke Energy's Century-Old Legacy. 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. NextEra was a traditional utility company when it was started in 1925. The third-party candidate in that race, Charles Goston, earned about 4,300 votes as an independent, despite being a lifelong Democrat. Possible outcomes from this scandal include increased wariness of NextEra from individuals and politicians, which could put the growth of clean energy at risk. Where did the $4 million paid by FPL to consultants working with Grow United, the nonprofit organization that funded the ghost candidate advertising, originate from and what was it spent on? Matrix spent big money on advertising for another candidate with the same last name as Rodrguez to split the vote. 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 firm, which also includes consultants Matt Mitchell and Michael Sheehan, came under intense scrutiny for their role in Floridas redistricting and were required to turn in over 1,800 pages of records as part of a lawsuit filed by Fair District voting-rights groups in 2013. 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. as reported by the Energy and Policy Institute. Ive been spending time in Williamsport, Ohio, to look at the debate over the solar proposal. Pimentel has been a well-known but low-key power industry figure whose familiarity with NextEra suggests he will provide consistent leadership for with NextEra's top subsidiary, said Glenrock Associates utility analyst Paul Patterson. Pimentel was CEO of NextEra Energy Resources, the company's unregulated arm focused on renewable power, for eight years before retiring in 2019. The most comprehensive solution to manage all your complex and ever-expanding tax and compliance needs. 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 investigation by the Federal Election Commission into the company's political giving. Consultants who control Grow United billed FPL for over $3 million before the entity started moving funds around for the election scheme. Dan Gearinos habit-forming weekly take on how to understand the energy transformation reshaping our world. John Ketchum, a 19-year veteran of NextEra Energy, is named president and chief executive officer (CEO), NextEra Energy.He will report directly to the NextEra Energy, Inc. Board of Directors. The bill outlines a reduction to the credit, which would dramatically limit the number of people who could affordably lease or buy panels. Armando Pimentel, who held executive roles in finance at NextEra for more than a decade before retiring in 2019, is coming . His coverage deals with the business side of the clean-energy transition and he writes ICNs, turning a news website into a mouthpiece for the utility, Seaport Global Securities downgraded NextEras stock, A team of ICN reporters led by Marianne Lavelle examined the bill. FPL this year announced a plan it calls Real Zero to completely eliminate carbon emissions from its operations by 2045. Canopy was started by former Matrix employees, led by Jeff Pitts. Since then, the legislature replaced the previous leader of that office, J.R. Kelly, with a former utility lobbyist, Richard Gentry. 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. Watch the Florida Legislature live: The Florida Channel, a public affairs programming service funded by the Legislature, livestreams coverage at thefloridachannel.org. (Rooftop solar systems generally last for 25 years or longer.) 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. 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 . 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