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. Matrix LLC has since sued several former employees, including its ex-CEO Jeff Pitts, accusing them of conspiring with FPL's parent company NextEra Energy Inc. to work on secret projects . Theres a recipe in triumph and tragedy, Company run out of a Brooklyn walk-up shorted Florida produce packers $159,000 in pay, What Is Chapter 13 Bankruptcy? The second Defendant, Cottonwood Wind . While it is not illegal to conspire to place a third-party candidate into an election, paying for that placement and failing to properly report the money involved is. Its hard to predict what the scandal will mean for clean energy in the future or if it will have any effect at all. Energy Fairness played a role in setting up an attack on rooftop solar in 2020, via Florida Representative Lawrence McClure. That promise would allow the company to continue . Get a daily email of our original, groundbreaking stories written by our national network of award-winning reporters. A team of ICN reporters led by Marianne Lavelle examined the bill and spoke with outside experts to get an idea of its implications. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. 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 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. 11/30/2021. The Miami Herald and others reported claims that company executives worked with a consultant to derail certain state senate candidates and surveil a journalist who wrote critically about the regulated utility. Floridas largest utility has a lot of explaining to do after news organizations revealed some unseemly conduct. 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. racial slurs directed at black members of the Florida Legislature. Sources report that the current NextEra investigation may be part of a wider probe into ethicalcomplaints against Simpson, the Senate President, including allegations that campaign moneywas spent to cover the fact that he fathered a child out of wedlock with a lobbyist for the Publixsupermarket chain. Every day or once a week, our original stories and digest of the web's top headlines deliver the full story, for free. Republican Ileana Garcia won the election by 32 votes. The Miami Herald has confirmed that NextEra has been conducting an internal investigationon FPLs involvement in the ghost candidate scheme. This decision flew somewhat under the radar, unlike the situation at Florida Power & Light. You want to measure economic success? We deliver climate news to your inbox like nobody else. China: A World Powerhouse . 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. At the end of the earnings call, Robo announced he will be retiring from his position on March 1 and John Ketchum, currently president and CEO of NextEra Energy Resources, will succeed him. If NextEra is to be the model of a sustainable energy giant, it must shed its brown assets. Court documents obtained by the Miami Herald, as part of the state attorneys investigation, have shown that as part of the ghost candidate scheme Lets Preserve the American Dream paid former state Sen. Frank Artiles $125,000 for research and paid Grow United $1.15 million. FPL has for decades spent millions on lobbying and election influence at every level of politics in Florida, giving it and its parent company, NextEra Energy, immense influence over the states politicians. [] utility Florida Power & Light backed the legislation, and, according to an investigation by the Energy and Policy Institute, a watchdog group, donated tens of thousands of dollars in [], [] more brazen attempt to interfere in state politics, FPL executives including Silagy were closely connected to a state election scandal that involved recruiting and funding sham candidates to siphon votes away from incumbent Democrats [], [] Herald. 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. To the larger question of NextEras public image, Pomerantz answers with a question: What happens when the companys reputation as an unethical actor extends to their clean energy efforts? he asked. The club is suing, What makes Knaus Berry Farm such a landmark? Gostons campaign was largely funded by Republicans with ties to Perry, as reported by the Gainesville Sun. NextEra Energy CEO James Robo responded to a question from a Bank of America Securities analyst and said the company had FPL CEO Eric Silagy turn over emails and text messages and concluded there was no evidenceof illegality or wrongdoing on the part of FPL or any of its employees.. Almost immediately, FPL reached out to the CEO of Matrix, LLC a political consulting firm. Jim Robo, the current chairman and CEO, will become executive chairman for a transition period, and it is anticipated that Mr. Ketchum will also be appointed to the company's board of directors effective . 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. "I don't expect much of a change, leaving aside all of the stuff going on with the outgoing CEO," Patterson said. Artiles has long-standing close connections with FPL, as previously reported by Energy and Policy Institute in 2020 and 2021. Artiles has been connected to Florida utilities, including NextEra and its subsidiary Florida Power and Light (FPL), for years. In 2017, Perry voted in support of NextEras exploratory fracking legislation while serving on the Communications, Energy and Public Utilities Committee chaired by Artiles. Since then, the legislature replaced the previous leader of that office, J.R. Kelly, with a former utility lobbyist, Richard Gentry. 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. Its video library also archives coverage for later viewing. Artiles has long-standing close connections with FPL, as previously reported by Energy and Policy Institute in 2020 and 2021. FPL engaged with dark money political committees to keep their profits safe in the wake of proposed legislation. 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. SAC 1-2. NextEra Energy announces agreement to sell a 50% interest in an approximately 2,520-megawatt portfolio renewables project to a third party, highlighting the value of its best-in-class development program. I dont have very many neighbors talk to me anymore, said Mark Schein, a retired farmer who upset people by leasing his property for the project, along with about a dozen others in the community. 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. Clarification: This story was updated on January 27, 2022, to reflect that the Jacksonville job was arranged by consultants for FPL, not directly by the company. The documents also showed that Silagy coordinated with the political consultants to steer campaign contributions made through nonprofits in past elections. Unlike other companies that actively work toward creating clean energy, NextEra stumbled into the renewable energy industry somewhat unintentionally. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. But the company is limited in what it can do to defend itself because of reams of evidence, in leaked emails and texts, showing that company executives were aware of at least some of what was happening. Utilities gave nearly $2 million to five committees either linked to or controlled by AIF in the 2020 election cycle, over 20% of their total giving for the reporting period. Their power over utilities in Florida was challenged by legislation proposed by the Democratic Senator of Florida, Jos Javier Rodrguez, in 2019. The third-party candidate in that race, Charles Goston, earned about 4,300 votes as an independent, despite being a lifelong Democrat. I believe that NextEra is a respectable developer, said Jeremy Welch, testifying at the hearing on behalf of a union that supports the project. It was also announced that Silagy, the president and CEO of FPL, will take on the added responsibility of chairman of FPL. I wonder if NextEras problems in Florida may eventually affect the perception of the company in other places. News. One part of that is to convert gas-fired power plants to run on hydrogen. Artiles faces multiple felony charges in connection to an alleged election scheme that successfully ousted Senator Jose Javier Rodriguez, a long-time climate advocate. Learn More 2022 ESG Report TOP 20 in the world for innovation, according to Fortune 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. Artiles has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Another political committee that supported Goston, the third-party spoiler candidate in 2018, has financial connections to a group that appears to have utility connections. Date. I also saw how opponents of renewable energy development rarely miss an opportunity to sow distrust in the developer, with talk of how wind or solar would be an eyesore and potentially harm property values. The state senate districts were 9, 37, and 39. Artiles is facing several felony charges for allegedly recruiting and paying an auto-parts dealer who shared the same surname as the Democratic incumbent in the race for Senate District 37 to run as a no-party candidate and confuse voters and influence the outcome of the 2020 election, according to his arrest affidavit. The company was implicated in aghost candidate scheme in Floridathat ousted a climate advocate from state office. 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. This is not the first cycle that a well-funded third party candidate has upset a campaign by a close margin, and its not the first where those candidates have had at least some connection to Artiles and Florida utilities. 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. They probably chose him to be a steady the ship-type figure, said Jack Dearing, an analyst withWashington-based Capstone LLC, which advises investors and companies on policy issues. At the end of the earnings call, Robo announced he will be retiring from his position on March 1 and John Ketchum, currently president and CEO of NextEra Energy Resources, will succeed him. Were working hard to bring you the latest news from the states legislative session. For example, Richard Alexander, who lives in Cullman, Alabama, 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. (Heres the hearing transcript.). If you are somebody who maybe is on the fence about whether a wind farm should come to your community, and you see all this about what NextEra has doneand its true, (the company) really has behaved terriblythen, does that make you more or less trustworthy of them?. 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. NextEra Energy ( NEE -1.10%) reported its first-quarter 2022 earnings yesterday, and its stock has been tumbling ever since. About NextEra Energy NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) is a leading clean energy company headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida. On Wednesday, FPL spokesperson Chris McGrath denied that FPL was involved in the ghost candidate scheme. 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. Other utilities have tried similar strategies, but none have done it on the scale of NextEra. [], [] has not shied away from shady political dealings in the past. (Rooftop solar systems generally last for 25 years or longer.) The arrest warrant for Artiles suggests that money may have illegally exchanged hands, at least in the case of SD37. NextEra Energy Inc., the largest U.S. utility by market cap and one of the world's top solar and wind power producers, has been called out for never declaring a net-zero emissions target like many other major power utilities have done. I reported this story with Tracy Wholf, coordinating climate producer for ABC News, and we also worked together on a special episode of ABCs podcast Start Here that delves into the nuanced concerns on both sides of the conflict. At NextEras fourth-quarter earnings call with financial analysts, Julien Patrick Dumoulin-Smith of Bank of America Securities asked Robo if he could share around some of the headlines pertaining to FPL here? In the 2020 cycle alone, the Florida Republican Senate Campaign Committee (FRSCC) reported over $7 million dollars in expenditures to Data Targeting, for services including research, polling, advertising, campaign staff, and line items only reported as consulting. Nearly $183,000 of FRSCCs spending with Data Targeting was earmarked for the Senate District 37 race, the same race that led to Artiles arrest. NextEra Energy CEO James Robo responded to a question from a Bank of America Securities analyst and said the company had FPL CEO Eric Silagy turn over emails and text messages and concluded. Additionally, the bill limits any grandfathering into the current policy to ten years, while many systems in Florida are financed beyond that timeframe, which means that customers who bought solar panels under the current net metering policy would see the value of their investments sharply decrease. They remained that way until they took a stake in early wind farms in exchange for canceling the debts owed to them. Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile. Since 2020, Florida-based news organizations have reported about FP&L's role in questionable political and campaign finance-related activity. Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the worlds largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Even if you put somebody who is a perfectly fine individual with a financial background and doesnt have this aggressive history it doesnt necessarily make up for the fact of all that did happen in very recent history, Schafer said. 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. 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. Nee -1.10 % ) reported its first-quarter 2022 earnings yesterday, and its stock been... 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