JUNO BEACH, Fla., Jan. 8, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Power & Light Company today
announced the latest major milestones in its ongoing strategy of
advancing clean energy affordably for customers: the retirement of
one of Florida's largest coal-fired power plants and the opening of
four new solar power plants comprised of more than 1 million solar
panels.
These advancements will further improve FPL's carbon emissions
profile, which is already approximately 30 percent cleaner than the
U.S. industry average. At the same time, FPL's typical 1,000-kWh
residential customer bill remains approximately 25 percent lower
than the U.S. average. Moreover, FPL's typical customer bill is
lower today than it was during the year 2008.
"The truth is progress like this doesn't happen by accident.
It's because of our culture of responsible innovation and an
unwavering commitment to customers that we're able to deliver
cleaner, more reliable energy while keeping electric bills among
the lowest in the country," said Eric
Silagy, president and CEO of FPL.
"FPL has a forward-looking strategy of making smart, innovative,
long-term investments, including solar, to reduce emissions while
providing affordable clean energy for its customers," said
Julie Wraithmell, interim executive
director of Audubon Florida.
"Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is critical to addressing
climate change," said Greg Knecht,
deputy executive director of the Florida chapter of The Nature
Conservancy. "Any time we can replace less-efficient sources of
energy with cleaner fuels or solar, it's a benefit for people and
nature. Investments such as FPL's in clean-energy technologies are
key to Florida's future health and prosperity."
Solar plant openings
On Jan.
1, 2018, the following new plants began powering FPL
customers:
- FPL Horizon Solar Energy Center, located in Alachua and Putnam counties
- FPL Coral Farms Solar Energy Center, Putnam County
- FPL Indian River Solar Energy Center, Indian River County
- FPL Wildflower Solar Energy Center, DeSoto County
The company also expects to complete construction on another
four solar plants soon:
- FPL Barefoot Bay Solar Energy Center, Brevard County (entering service by
March 1, 2018)
- FPL Blue Cypress Solar Energy Center, Indian River County (entering service by
March 1, 2018)
- FPL Hammock Solar Energy Center, Hendry County (entering service by
March 1, 2018)
- FPL Loggerhead Solar Energy Center, St. Lucie County (entering service by
March 1, 2018)
At 74.5 megawatts each, these solar plants – which encompass
approximately 2.6 million solar panels – total nearly 600 megawatts
of new zero-emissions energy capacity.
FPL's new solar plants are designed to effectively pay for
themselves over their operational lifetimes. In fact, the eight
solar plants entering service in 2018 are projected to generate
more than $100 million in savings for
FPL customers over and above the cost of construction.
Across Florida, FPL has installed more than 3.5 million new
solar panels in less than two years. By 2023, FPL expects to grow
this to more than 10 million solar panels.
Coal plant closure
Late last week, the aging
coal-fired St. Johns River Power
Park in Jacksonville, Fla.,
was officially retired by co-owners FPL and JEA, the municipal
electric provider for the City of
Jacksonville. The approximately 1,300-megawatt plant served
customers of the two utilities well for many years, but it was no
longer economical to operate – the plant was one of the
highest-cost generating facilities to operate and maintain for both
FPL's and JEA's systems. Closure of the plant is projected to
prevent more than 5.6 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions
annually and save FPL customers an estimated $183 million.
In 2016, FPL shut down the Cedar Bay Generating Plant, another
coal plant located in Jacksonville
– preventing nearly 1 million tons of carbon emissions annually and
saving customers a projected $70
million. In addition, FPL plans to phase out its last coal
plant in Florida, the Indiantown
Cogeneration plant, which is projected to prevent more than 657,000
tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually and save customers an
estimated $129 million.
Keeping customer bills low
While the prices of almost
all products and services have risen in recent years, FPL's typical
1,000-kWh residential customer bill has remained low. It is
currently approximately 25 percent lower than the national
average.
FPL's Typical
1,000-kWh Customer Bill
2008 vs. 2018
Comparison
|
2008
yr. avg.
|
2018
as of Jan.
1
|
$106.03
|
$102.72
|
Florida Power & Light
Company
Florida Power &
Light Company is the third-largest electric utility in the United States, serving approximately 5
million customer accounts or an estimated 10+ million people across
nearly half of the state of Florida. FPL's typical 1,000-kWh
residential customer bill is approximately 25 percent lower than
the latest national average and, in 2016, was the lowest in
Florida among reporting utilities
for the seventh year in a row. FPL's nationally recognized service
reliability is better than 99.98 percent, and its highly
fuel-efficient power plant fleet is one of the cleanest among all
utilities nationwide. The company received the top ranking in the
southern U.S. among large electric providers, according to the J.D.
Power 2016 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction
StudySM, and was recognized in 2016 as one of the most
trusted U.S. electric utilities by Market Strategies International.
A leading Florida employer with approximately 8,900 employees, FPL
is a subsidiary of Juno Beach,
Florida-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), a clean
energy company widely recognized for its efforts in sustainability,
ethics and diversity, and has been ranked No. 1 in the electric and
gas utilities industry in Fortune's 2017 list of "World's Most
Admired Companies." NextEra Energy is also the parent company of
NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated
entities, is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from
the wind and sun. For more information about NextEra Energy
companies, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com,
www.FPL.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.
Cautionary Statements and Risk Factors That
May Affect Future Results
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are not
statements of historical facts, but instead represent the current
expectations of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NextEra Energy) and
Florida Power & Light Company
(FPL) regarding future operating results and other future events,
many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and
outside of NextEra Energy's and FPL's control. Forward-looking
statements in this news release include, among others, statements
concerning future operating performance. In some cases, you can
identify the forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as
"will," "may result," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "intend,"
"plan," "seek," "potential," "projection," "forecast," "predict,"
"goals," "target," "outlook," "should," "would" or similar words or
expressions. You should not place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of future
performance. The future results of NextEra Energy and FPL and their
business and financial condition are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause their actual results to differ
materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking
statements, or may require them to limit or eliminate certain
operations. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not
limited to, the following: effects of extensive regulation of
NextEra Energy's and FPL's business operations; inability of
NextEra Energy and FPL to recover in a timely manner any
significant amount of costs, a return on certain assets or a
reasonable return on invested capital through base rates, cost
recovery clauses, other regulatory mechanisms or otherwise; impact
of political, regulatory and economic factors on regulatory
decisions important to NextEra Energy and FPL; disallowance of cost
recovery by FPL based on a finding of imprudent use of derivative
instruments; effect of any reductions or modifications to, or
elimination of, governmental incentives or policies that support
utility scale renewable energy projects of NextEra Energy
Resources, LLC and its affiliated entities (NextEra Energy
Resources) or the imposition of additional tax laws, policies or
assessments on renewable energy; impact of new or revised laws,
regulations, interpretations or other regulatory initiatives on
NextEra Energy and FPL;; capital expenditures, increased operating
costs and various liabilities attributable to environmental laws,
regulations and other standards applicable to NextEra Energy and
FPL; effects on NextEra Energy and FPL of federal or state laws or
regulations mandating new or additional limits on the production of
greenhouse gas emissions; exposure of NextEra Energy and FPL to
significant and increasing compliance costs and substantial
monetary penalties and other sanctions as a result of extensive
federal regulation of their operations and businesses; effect on
NextEra Energy and FPL of changes in tax laws, guidance or policies
as well as in judgments and estimates used to determine tax-related
asset and liability amounts; impact on NextEra Energy and FPL of
adverse results of litigation; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL of
failure to proceed with projects under development or inability to
complete the construction of (or capital improvements to) electric
generation, transmission and distribution facilities, gas
infrastructure facilities or other facilities on schedule or within
budget; impact on development and operating activities of NextEra
Energy and FPL resulting from risks related to project siting,
financing, construction, permitting, governmental approvals and the
negotiation of project development agreements; risks involved in
the operation and maintenance of electric generation, transmission
and distribution facilities, gas infrastructure facilities and
other facilities; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL of a lack of
growth or slower growth in the number of customers or in customer
usage; impact on NextEra Energy and FPL of severe weather and other
weather conditions; threats of terrorism and catastrophic events
that could result from terrorism, cyber attacks or other attempts
to disrupt NextEra Energy's and FPL's business or the businesses of
third parties; inability to obtain adequate insurance coverage for
protection of NextEra Energy and FPL against significant losses and
risk that insurance coverage does not provide protection against
all significant losses; a prolonged period of low gas and oil
prices could impact NextEra Energy Resources' gas infrastructure
business and cause NextEra Energy Resources to delay or cancel
certain gas infrastructure projects and for certain existing
projects to be impaired; risk to NextEra Energy Resources of
increased operating costs resulting from unfavorable supply costs
necessary to provide NextEra Energy Resources' full energy and
capacity requirement services; inability or failure by NextEra
Energy Resources to manage properly or hedge effectively the
commodity risk within its portfolio; effect of reductions in the
liquidity of energy markets on NextEra Energy's ability to manage
operational risks; effectiveness of NextEra Energy's and FPL's risk
management tools associated with their hedging and trading
procedures to protect against significant losses, including the
effect of unforeseen price variances from historical behavior;
impact of unavailability or disruption of power transmission or
commodity transportation facilities on sale and delivery of power
or natural gas by FPL and NextEra Energy Resources; exposure of
NextEra Energy and FPL to credit and performance risk from
customers, hedging counterparties and vendors; failure of NextEra
Energy or FPL counterparties to perform under derivative contracts
or of requirement for NextEra Energy or FPL to post margin cash
collateral under derivative contracts; failure or breach of NextEra
Energy's or FPL's information technology systems; risks to NextEra
Energy and FPL's retail businesses from compromise of sensitive
customer data; losses from volatility in the market values of
derivative instruments and limited liquidity in OTC markets; impact
of negative publicity; inability of NextEra Energy and FPL to
maintain, negotiate or renegotiate acceptable franchise agreements
with municipalities and counties in Florida; occurrence of work strikes or
stoppages and increasing personnel costs; NextEra Energy's ability
to successfully identify, complete and integrate acquisitions,
including the effect of increased competition for acquisitions;
NextEra Energy Partners, LP's (NEP's) acquisitions may not be
completed and, even if completed, NextEra Energy may not realize
the anticipated benefits of any acquisitions; environmental, health
and financial risks associated with NextEra Energy Resources' and
FPL's ownership and operation of nuclear generation facilities;
liability of NextEra Energy and FPL for significant retrospective
assessments and/or retrospective insurance premiums in the event of
an incident at certain nuclear generation facilities; increased
operating and capital expenditures and/or result in reduced
revenues at nuclear generation facilities of NextEra Energy or FPL
resulting from orders or new regulations of the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission; inability to operate any of NextEra Energy Resources'
or FPL's owned nuclear generation units through the end of their
respective operating licenses; effect of disruptions, uncertainty
or volatility in the credit and capital markets on NextEra Energy's
and FPL's ability to fund their liquidity and capital needs and
meet their growth objectives; inability of NextEra Energy, FPL and
NextEra Energy Capital Holdings, Inc. to maintain their current
credit ratings; impairment of NextEra Energy's and FPL's liquidity
from inability of credit providers to fund their credit commitments
or to maintain their current credit ratings; poor market
performance and other economic factors that could affect NextEra
Energy's defined benefit pension plan's funded status; poor market
performance and other risks to the asset values of NextEra Energy's
and FPL's nuclear decommissioning funds; changes in market value
and other risks to certain of NextEra Energy's investments; effect
of inability of NextEra Energy subsidiaries to pay upstream
dividends or repay funds to NextEra Energy or of NextEra Energy's
performance under guarantees of subsidiary obligations on NextEra
Energy's ability to meet its financial obligations and to pay
dividends on its common stock; the fact that the amount and timing
of dividends payable on NextEra Energy's common stock, as well as
the dividend policy approved by NextEra Energy's board of directors
from time to time, and changes to that policy, are within the sole
discretion of NextEra Energy's board of directors and, if declared
and paid, dividends may be in amounts that are less than might be
expected by shareholders; NEP's inability to access sources of
capital on commercially reasonable terms could have an effect on
its ability to consummate future acquisitions and on the value of
NextEra Energy's limited partner interest in NextEra Energy
Operating Partners, LP; and effects of disruptions, uncertainty or
volatility in the credit and capital markets on the market price of
NextEra Energy's common stock. NextEra Energy and FPL discuss these
and other risks and uncertainties in their annual report on Form
10-K for the year ended December 31,
2016 and other SEC filings, and this news release should be
read in conjunction with such SEC filings made through the date of
this news release. The forward-looking statements made in this news
release are made only as of the date of this news release and
NextEra Energy and FPL undertake no obligation to update any
forward-looking statements.
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SOURCE Florida Power & Light
Company