Political editor Emily L. Mahoney will send you a rundown on local, state and national politics coverage every Thursday. He is suing Pitts in Alabama for fraud and conspiracy. At the same time, getting to 100% elimination of greenhouse gas emissions for the energy sector is very hard to do with just renewables. And additional reporting since last year has made it clear the leakedMatrix records contain legitimate information. 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. They are supposed to be closely regulated, but their profits and unchecked political spending makes them some of the most powerful entities in a state. FPL argued that it is more cost-effective to build a power plant than to invest in energy-efficiency programs because building codes and energy-efficiency standards in consumer products have improved. TALLAHASSEE Rooftop solar power generation in Florida is still a nascent industry, but Florida Power & Light, the nations largest power company, is pushing to hamstring it by writing and hand-delivering legislation the company asked state lawmakers to introduce, according to records obtained by the Miami Herald and Floodlight. The utility company also contributes to many Democrats and to the Florida Democratic Party. Bradley, who received Florida Power & Lights draft bill, is a first-term senator who is close to Senate leadership and chairs the Community Affairs Committee and the Subcommittee on Congressional Reapportionment. The West County Energy Centeruses three combined-cycle generating units thatburnnatural gas in a turbine much like a jet engine and in turn usesthat exhaust to make a second power source of steam. In other words, FPL's gas-fired plant produced almost 20% more power but with a third of the emissions as the coal-powered plant. During an investigation by this newspaper, as well as the Sentinel and Floodlight, FPL became at least vaguely threatening about our decision to continue reporting. That month, FPL announced a planned purchase ofGulf Power, expanding its reach for the first time into the Florida Panhandle, and in the process snatching away a lucrative asset from regional rival Southern Company, which had owned Gulf since 1925. The team decided an effort to repeal the ordinance would probably fail. That cost is based on the avoided cost that the utility would have incurred if it were to install a comparable system. 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. "It's a 24-hour day job. NPR and Floodlight also reported in December that people working at Florida Power & Light's political consulting firm had paid a veteran ABC News freelance producer to try to trip up politicians who took stances opposed to the energy utility's economic interests. Months after he was elected, Beeker voted in favor of an energy price hike for consumers. He has denied the allegations. As for Silagy's departure, Ketchum said, "It's a little earlier than Eric would've wanted to do it.". To date, no FPL employees have been charged with any crimes. Otherwise, DeSantis has been largely friendly to NextEra and FPLs legislative priorities, granting the utility $2.75 million in tax breaks on speculative green hydrogen, signing legislation that gave FPL permission to charge customers tens of billions of dollars for burying lines, signing legislation preventing gas bans that would have aided Florida City Gas, and also signing legislation that forced the resignation of utility critic JR Kelly from his leadership of the Office of Public Counsel, which represents ratepayers in rate cases. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: FPL CEO Eric Silagy to retire; Armando Pimentel rejoins company, FPL seeks to raise monthly power bills for residental customers by 10%, FPL CEO Eric Silagy to retire; Armando Pimentel rejoins company, Chicago Mayor Lightfoot ousted; Vallas, Johnson in runoff, King asks Duke and Duchess of Sussex to move out of Frogmore so Prince Andrew can move in, Biden Mocks Marjorie Taylor Greene With 1 Simple Hand Gesture, A Nebraska high-school cheerleader competed on her own after the rest of her squad quit. one of the largest contributors to legislative Florida political campaigns, would have allowed regulators to impose fees and barriers to rooftop solar installation. 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. 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. Few examples are clearer than the case of South Miami. 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. invested millions into groups with untraceable, anonymous donors that launched attacks on state and local politicians. Records obtained by the Sentinel also show overlap between Grow United and previous campaigns to overhaul net metering. Florida Power & Light, one of the largest utilities in the country, abruptly announced the retirement of its chief executive after a tenure marked by strong financial returns, moves toward greener energy and multiple scandals. small-scale solar capacity in the state. And Burgess himself seemed to recognize it was an unlikely proposal, lamenting that "they are such douchebag newspaper people they added the poison pill to prevent ahostil [sic] takeover, even if it costs them hundreds of millions in stock value" (it's not clear in his email what the alleged"poison pill" is supposed to have been). Here is why and how much. As such, it would seem the FPL plantsinclusion on the list is unfair. Any report or suggestion that we had involvement in, financially supported or directed others to support any ghost candidates during the 2020 election cycle is patently false, and we have found absolutely no evidence of any legal wrongdoing by FPL or its employees, McGrath, the Florida Power & Light spokesperson said in response to questions for this story. 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. NextEra Energy said its political committee did not make its contribution to Bradleys campaign with an expectation of favor.. "Based on the information we have, we . In 2018, Perkins Communications received at least $1.49m from Alabama Power, a leaked contract shows. For example, in documents obtained by reporters, Silagy had emailed two of his vice presidents to make a state senator's "life a living hell" after proposing a pro-solar bill. 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. The Florida Panhandle is in revolt over bills that some FPL customers claim are double or triple what they were paying under Southern Company's stewardship of Gulf Power. 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. He said what he found was deeply disturbing. That is your choice, but rest assured, we will hold you accountable if that continues to happen. Matrixs principal, Perkins, says he discovered only after Pitts left the firm that he and other now-former employees had been conducting shadow activities and operations dating back to 2016. A Democratic state senator was proposing a law that could cut into Florida Power & Light's (FPL) profits. "We're not making a connection," said John Ketchum, CEO of NextEra Energy. In each of those cases, Matrix was working against politicians or policies fighting to curb the climate crisis by encouraging renewable power. Rooftop solar, while critical to fighting climate change, is a threat to the traditional utility business model. Im not afraid if the conclusion is its not the time to do this. The commission held a workshop, which drew 16,000 messages from solar advocates urging it to leave the net metering program alone. Florida Power & Light has also invested millions into groups with untraceable, anonymous donors that launched attacks on state and local politicians. Top executives at utility giant Florida Power & Light worked closely with the political consultants who orchestrated a scheme to promote spoiler candidates in three key state Senate elections last year, according to documents obtained by the Orlando Sentinel. Im hopeful this is a conversation starter but, at the same time, its really hard to have a conversation when you have a gun to your head. A spokesperson for FPL said it stopped working with Canopy in late 2021. Theyve got the lobbying power, and weve got the people power.. FPL's financials remain strong. Ron DeSantis, approved FPLs rate hike, raising Floridians monthly bills by over $1.5 billion in the next few years with annual increases through 2025, while increasing FPLs profits. It ranks third among states for installed solar capacity, although much of that is large-scale, utility-owned solar. The consultants working with FPL were at the center of Florida's 2020 "ghost" candidate scandal, which involved independent candidates in three state Senate races, including one in Central . Southern Company and Alabama Power run the state of Alabama, Dunn said. When the small south Florida citys mayor helped pass an ordinance in 2017 mandating rooftop solar panels on new construction, a network of 10 FPL-aligned operatives mobilized to ensure his ouster. Before the prospect of JEA had even been formally proposed, Matrix employees were planting seeds intended to underminepublic confidence in the Jacksonville agency, potentially as early as 2017. FPL: Plant has "best available" and "most advanced" emission controls, Data shows FPL plant is highly efficient compared to others, Find Energy, experts laud FPL for use of natural gas, FPL touts its 'gas guzzler' to 'hybrid' modernization strategy, Analyst: Utilities 'doing their part,' urgency of the moment requires more, Solar advocates push for last-minute changes to net metering bills, FPL blows up its last coal-fired power plant; announces plans for its newest solar center, Your next Florida Power & Light electric bill is going way up. Consultants who control Grow United billed FPL for over $3 million before the entity started moving funds around for the election scheme. Pitts, who left Matrix in December 2020 to start his own firm, Canopy Partners, did not respond to a request for comment by deadline. Nate Monroe is a metro columnist whose work regularly appears every Thursday and Sunday. That is a fairly energy-intensive process in and of itself. 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. The complaint implicated Florida Power & Light in election law violations because of alleged attempts to obscure the source of the political donations. 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. McGrath added that the companys move toward cleaner energy sources is a march, not a sprint.. Silagy is to be replaced by Armando Pimentel, a former senior executive at NextEra Energy. Big power companies operate as monopolies with captive customers in much of the south-east US. 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