"They probably chose him to be a steady the ship-type figure," said Jack Dearing, an analyst with Washington-based Capstone LLC, which advises investors and companies on policy issues. Watchdog exposing the attacks on renewable energy and countering misinformation by fossil fuel interests. Republican state legislators Sen. Jennifer Bradley and Rep. Lawrence McClure have filed identical legislation in the Senate and House that would end the states current net metering policy, which determines the credit that FPL and other utilities must pay to solar customers for excess solar energy that they generate and sell back to the grid. NextEra Energy is a total fraud, and veritably a criminal entity. Possible outcomes from this scandal include increased wariness of NextEra from individuals and politicians, which could put the growth of clean energy at risk. His coverage deals with the business side of the clean-energy transition and he writes ICNs Inside Clean Energy newsletter. 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. Matrix spent big money on advertising for another candidate with the same last name as Rodrguez to split the vote. 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. According to sources, NextEra subsidiary Florida Power & Light (FPL) funneled millions of dollarto run so-called ghost candidates in Florida state Senate campaigns. $5,000 from investor-owned utilities went to the campaign account directly: $1,000 from NextEra, $2,000 from Duke, and $2,000 from TECO. McClure also worked closely with utility front group Energy Fairness, as reported by the Energy and Policy Institute. Earlier this month, the reporting by the Orlando Sentinel, Florida Times-Union, and the Miami Herald prompted four Democratic lawmakers to ask state regulators to conduct an audit of FPL, the largest utility company in the nation and a monopoly regulated by the Florida Public Service Commission. Some of thislike turning a news website into a mouthpiece for the utility or surveilling a newspaper columnist in the hopes of catching him doing something embarrassingsounds like the stuff of conspiracy theories. Pomerantz said the goal of moving to zero emissions is a very good one, but he questions the feasibility of using hydrogen as a major part of generating electricity. The Office of Public Counsel, which advocates on behalf of Florida utility customers, also stated that it was a net benefit in that same workshop. 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. Every day or once a week, our original stories and digest of the web's top headlines deliver the full story, for free. 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. The scandal ballooned last week when three more arrests were made, including of Ben Paris, the chair of the Seminole County (FL) Republican Executive Committee. A major new transmission line intended to pipe carbon-free hydropower from Canada into the U.S. Northeast has met a powerful opponent: the world's largest provider of renewable energy. 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. Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology. They remained that way until they took a stake in early wind farms in exchange for canceling the debts owed to them. Every day or once a week, our original stories and digest of the webs top headlines deliver the full story, for free. 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?. 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. 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. We rely on donations from readers like you to keep going. A day later, PSC Chairman Andrew Fay responded with an unequivocal rejection of their request, saying that the PSC has a long-standing prohibition on the inclusion of lobbying and other expenses, which have been determined to bring no benefit to ratepayers, among the expenses to be recovered through rates charged to the public for service., Fay added that when FPL filed its rate request, the appropriate auditing function was conducted during the commissions consideration of the most recent FPL rate case, and the audit produced no evidence that FPL used, or was intending to use, ratepayer funds for the private benefit of the companys lobbying, campaigning or marketing affairs.. Florida members of Congress have formally requested Attorney General Merrick Garland open an expansive corruption investigation to look into the source of potentially illegal funds used by Artiles. Download. This reporting has raised significant questions around the potential of ratepayer funds being used to not only influence elections but to undermine democracy through fake candidate schemes, astroturfing, and attempted bribes wrote state Reps. Anna Eskamani, Carlos Guillermo Smith, Angie Nixon and Travaris McCurdy. On Tuesday, it became clear that Wall Street had noticed the stories. The Senate District 37 scandal was one of three races in Florida in the 2020 cycle that followed a nearly identical pattern: A close race, an unknown third party candidate to siphon some of the votes, and campaign mailers attacking the Democratic candidate, all paid for by new, out-of-state political committees. Director, Pres & CEO of Sub of Nextera Energy Inc (30-Year Financial, Insider Trades) Eric E Silagy (insider trades) sold 28,564 shares of NEE on 03/15/2021 at an average price of $75.63 a share. 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 . The Senate District 37 scandal was one of three races in Florida in the 2020 cycle that followed a nearly identical pattern: A close race, an unknown third party candidate to siphon some of the votes, and campaign mailers attacking the Democratic candidate, all paid for by new, out-of-state political committees. 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 . The documents also showed that Silagy coordinated with the political consultants to steer campaign contributions made through nonprofits in past elections. I know theres been a lot of back and forth and perhaps theres a lot of context to provide there. Dumoulin-Smith is director of U.S. Power, Utilities and Alternative Energy Equity Research for Bank of American Securities. We can do so much more on student loan forgiveness. If you havent already subscribed, please consider buying a print or digital subscription. Has FPL ever given money to another nonprofit who worked with the consultants Lets Preserve the American Dream? About NextEra Energy NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) is a leading clean energy company headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida. Earlier this month, the reporting by the Orlando Sentinel, Florida Times-Union, and the Miami Herald, prompted four Democratic lawmakers to ask state regulators to conduct an audit of FPL, the largest utility company in the nation and a monopoly regulated by the Florida Public Service Commission. Description. This is a very good deal for the climate.. We have welcomed Armando Pimentel back to our company and have confidence that he will use his deep industry and company experience to further strengthen the FPL organization, NextEra Energy spokesperson David Reuter said. Numerous studies have shown that rooftop solar provides a net-benefit to other, non-solar customers. 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. An early adopter of renewable power generation, NextEra is the third-largest U.S. energy company by market capitalization behind Exxon Mobil and Chevron. Im eager to see whats yet to come, and whether it leads to changes in the way FPL does business. I dont think youre going to see any headlines like that (with Pimentel). Pimentel was CEO of NextEra Energy Resources, the companys unregulated arm focused on renewable power, for eight years before retiring in 2019. He grew up in Warren County, Iowa, just south of Des Moines, and lives in Columbus, Ohio. 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. In response to the stories, FPL has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Florida Power & Light has a monopoly on power in Florida. Florida Power & Light Co - FLPTL.PK - DELISTED, Dow and X-energy to build U.S. Gulf Coast nuclear demonstration plant, Oil slips as rising supplies balance Chinese demand hopes, Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Josie Kao, Exclusive: Biden administration to move on Midwest ethanol-blended gasoline rule this week -sources, Greta Thunberg detained by Norway police during pro-Sami protest, Western US cities vote to move ahead with novel nuclear power plant, Chevron CEO does not rule out consolidation among oil majors, How Elon Musk has missed his targets on delivering affordable cars, Dollar Tree sees weak 2023 profit as costs mount, shoppers curb spending, Tesla's new Mexico plant could create up to 6,000 jobs - foreign ministry official, Exclusive news, data and analytics for financial market professionals. Watch the Florida Legislature live: The Florida Channel, a public affairs programming service funded by the Legislature, livestreams coverage at thefloridachannel.org. 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