florida power and light scandal

I am concerned that it will result in significant costs here, but I also dont want to destroy the rooftop solar industry in Florida.. NextEra Energy said its political committee did not make its contribution to Bradleys campaign with an expectation of favor.. A spokesperson for the company declined to comment on the firms activities. With two months until voters elect the next Florida Governor, NextEra Energy and its subsidiaries, Florida Power & Light and Florida City Gas, have poured nearly $6 million into state level campaign funds and political committees. She also was a corporate operative. independent local journalism in Miami. The regulated monopoly is generally seen as a safe, stable investment, but there is some sign the recent public scrutiny could mushroom into a larger problem for FPL. About a decade ago, FPL made the fateful decision to hire Matrix LLC, an Alabama-based political consulting firm notorious in its home state but with little public profile in Florida. We are consistently one of the cleanest electric utilities in the country, FPL spokesman Chris McGrath said. Later, in 2019, when JEA executives were preparing to announce their intention to put the agency up for sale, Matrix employees drew up another radical idea. Ive also.ccd Gera Peoples on this note. We took a 1960s-gas guzzling Cadillac and we replaced it with a Ford Focus hybrid, McGrath said. Customers at the time were paying some of the highest rates for electricity in the south-east. And then apparently, somewhere along the way, Jeff and Joe got sideways, Silagy said. Under the leadership of Eric Silagy, 54, the company has been tied to allegations of campaign finance violations, media manipulation, and the surveillance of critical journalists. The sex worker later testified the allegations were untrue, and that she had been paid by a Birmingham businessman to make them. 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. Such a turn in the political tidecould be particularly dire for a regulated company like FPL, whose literal fortunes rise and fall on the decisions made by the Public Service Commission appointees of the governor who must sign off on any number of high-stakes operational and financial issues for Florida's private utilities, starting with electric rates. Nate Monroe is a metro columnist whose work regularly appears every Thursday and Sunday. That gave Matrix consultants and FPL executives input on Capitolist stories. If this bill passes as it is, it has the potential to send Florida back to 2013, as if the advances of the last 10 years didnt happen, Vandenbroeck said. The effort to privatize Jacksonville's utility imploded in scandal and recrimination, prompting a two-year federal investigation that resulted in criminal charges against JEA's former CEO and CFO. Burning natural gas results in about half of the carbon dioxide emissions of burning coal, which also releases harmful metals and gases into the environment. One of Matrixs oldest clients is Alabama Power, which employed Perkins personal consulting firm as early as 1999. To work around the independent, traditional media, former Matrix employees took a more direct route to influence the public narrative about Florida Power & Light. "I think it took a toll," Ketchum said Wednesday of the multiple crises. Too, FPL has not set a goal to reduce its emissions to zero because we believe in setting measurable and achievable goals, McGrath said. 2023 www.jacksonville.com. Taken together, the internal Matrix records depict a group of well-resourced executives and their enablers who have nurtured twisted views of theFirst Amendment and American democracy, and who have little hesitation over going to remarkable and troubling lengths to achieve their goals. ", FPL lauds its reliability and maintains it has the lowest electricity rates in the country. In 2020, FPL would help Florida Republicans keep control of the state Senate by contributing to several close races, in the process dispatching one of the few incumbents who was publicly critical of the company. Perkins claims he only became aware of this work after he encountered what appeared to be a damaged hard drive in Pitts' former office and hired an IT team to extract the remains. We're making smart, long-term investments to stabilize energy costs, lower carbon emissions, and make Florida energy independent. 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, FirstEnergy CEO Steven Strah emailed about under the radar House Bill 6 provision that cost Ohio ratepayers millions of dollars. A dark money group associated with Matrix LLC mailed attack ads against South Miami mayor Philip Stoddard to area residents. The team decided an effort to repeal the ordinance would probably fail. Leaked records in the possession of that consulting firm show that Matrix employees worked behind the scenes in cities across Florida for years to advance FPL's interests, sometimes going to extreme lengths to manipulate the political process in the utility's favor. Rooftop solar, while critical to fighting climate change, is a threat to the traditional utility business model. In all races, the Republican won the election. The firm later recovered more than a million files, according to Perkins, who said they reveal years of hidden, shadow work in Florida. The email was forwarded on to Silagy,though there is no indication the company seriously entertained Burgess' idea. He said what he found was deeply disturbing. Florida Power & Light president and CEO Eric Silagy will retire this spring, the Juno Beach-based utility's parent company NextEra Energy announced ahead of an earnings call with Wall Street. He says he told them that he was disappointed, but there was enough work for both of them, based on the good work they had done. The committee donated $25,000 to DeSantis political committee on the next day. Download the FPL Mobile App Now 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. "JEA is broken," the group boasted on its website, where it posted Times-Union coverage of the utility's involvement in an over-budget, behind-schedule nuclear project in Georgia. Very early on in this bills ride, I think it has a real chance to settle out in a way that most parties are not upset, he said. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. 0:00. I want you to make his life a living hell seriously, FPLs CEO Eric Silagy wrote in a 2019 email to two of his vice-presidents about state Senator Jos Javier Rodrguez, who proposed the legislation. Records obtained by the Sentinel also show overlap between Grow United and previous campaigns to overhaul net metering. Under Bradleys bill, net-metering customers whose solar panels deliver energy back to the utility grid would no longer receive credits based on the retail cost of energy, but instead receive credits based on a lower wholesale cost. Ten days later, Heffley wrote Holley again. The proposed bill would allow landlords to sell cheap solar panels to their tenants. Its parent company, NextEra Energy, has commissioned two separate investigations - one internal, one by an outside law firm - following reporting by Florida newspapers, the non-profit news outlet Floodlight and NPR. Rooftop solar, while critical to fighting climate change, is a threat to the traditional utility business model. The utility doesnt want to be associated with this campaign.. Matrix consultants had little regard for the professional press. That effort culminated with a Matrix employee signing an option agreement to purchase a controlling stake in The Capitolist in September 2019, the records show. 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. F lorida Power & Light is an investor owned company. This is a tired tactic that utilities have used to maintain their monopoly grip on electricity markets, said Will Giese, southeast regional director for the Solar Energy Industries Association. The bill also allows utilities to charge rooftop solar customers more, by adding in facility charges, grid access fees and minimum monthly payments. Terry Dunn wanted to examine why Alabama Power charged some of the highest rates in the country. Over the course of DeSantis tenure, he used that veto power once to block an anti-rooftop solar bill written by FPL. Florida Power & Light has also invested millions into groups with untraceable, anonymous donors that launched attacks on state and local politicians. A local law firm and the company that owned the coal plant used the charity to pay the representative. Also, after reports that an outside FPL consultant had tailed a Florida Times-Union journalist who reported critically on the utility, Silagy sat down with reporters to deny that FPL had ever directed anyone to monitor him. The companies that are doing the right thing still have those kinds of plants in their portfolio, specifically coal, but theyre working toward other alternatives, Hope said. Many of the documents have since been verified by additional reporting, public records or Perkins himself. Landlords would be able to sell cheap rooftop solar power directly to their tenants. It ranks third among states for installed solar capacity, although much of that is large-scale, utility-owned solar. In the remarkably successful years of its ambitious expansionism, secret records show FPL may have also been sowing the seeds of its more uncertain present. Those dark-money groups were controlled by former Matrix employees, the records show. Florida Power & Light CEO Eric Silagy was directly involved in steering funds to dark-money groups led by the consultants who controlled Grow United, the organization used to promote the ghost candidates, according to documents obtained by the Sentinel. However, those policies are coming under fire as utilities become increasingly concerned about how the growth of distributed solar energy affects their bottom line. I looked at the language. Silagy's departure follows more than a year's worth of news investigations into his and FPL's connections to a "ghost candidate" scandal that saw unserious political candidates run in state senate races to siphon votes away from certain politicians. FPL is currently modernizing its plant in Dania Beach, expecting the new gas plant to come online this year, but doesnt anticipate building a new natural gas-powered plant in its 10-year outlook. COMMENTARY | Just a 14-minute drive from Florida Power & Light'sheadquarters in Juno Beach is the easternmost point in the state, where the sun's radiant light first cracks the night skyeach morning. Florida Power & Light is pushing for it as Floridas biggest utility it has 5.5 million customers, about 65 percent of the state. The consultants pitched and supported tactics designed toembarrassindividualreporters who they believed had crossed their client's interests. The plan ultimately failed, and Stoddard was re-elected. From a public perception, maybe there is value in highlighting where our emissions come from, Patino-Echeverri said. There were a lot of challenges that we successfully managed," he said. Silagy, the FPL CEO, says the pair initially told him they had come to an amicable agreement about parting ways. Butone thing the leaked Matrix records make clear isthat more secrets remain on the firm's hard drive. Bradley said she is open to discussing alternative models for her bill, including a system in use in the Carolinas to compensate rooftop solar customers who provide extra power for the grid when it is most needed, during peak hours. An analyst at Seaport Global, a capital-markets firm, said recent reporting on FPL has "made us reassess FPL's risks" and that the research firm has "grown uncomfortable" with the "growing media scrutiny of FPLs lobbying practices against distributed solar and retail choice (deregulation), among others. The financial entanglement between FPL and The Capitolist dated back to 2018, records leaked to the Miami Herald show, when an FPL vice president suggested the website publish a critical piece on DeSantis' Democratic opponent, Andrew Gillum. Hannah Morse covers consumer issues for The Palm Beach Post. Florida Power & Light argues that arrangement is unfair to customers who dont generate their own power but continue to pay for the costs of maintaining the grid that rooftop solar customers also use. Thats not where the story ends, however, or the whole picture. You need this large power plant.. The complaint implicated Florida Power & Light in election law violations because of alleged attempts to obscure the source of the political donations. "We're not making a connection" between the reports and Silagy's retirement, NextEra CEO John Ketchum said on the earnings call. FPLs business-as-usual political contributions have continued amid intense media focus on its role in ongoing dark money election scandals and related criminal trials, with state lawmakers and a member of Congress calling for further investigation into FPLs involvement. See How. Hundreds of pages of internal documents which are only coming to light now because Matrixs founders are locked in an epic feud detail the firms secret work to help power companies like FPL protect their profits and fight the transition to cleaner forms of energy. He noted that there is never a "perfect time" to leave. Miami's independent source of More recently, the company hired an outside law firm to look more broadly at the company's actions. Companies do not pass legislation. A Democratic state senator was proposing a law that could cut into Florida Power & Lights (FPL) profits. Follow him onTwitter@NateMonroeTU. Rodrguez was ousted from office in the next election. Building 30 million solar power panels by the year 2025, a goal anticipated to be met five years earlier than planned, and paid for by ratepayers. In all, the centerproduces enough electricity for 750,000 homes and businesses. There was no question the company would be the leading bidder almost by default. The bill as it is written will decimate this industry.. I think we see in the trend overall nationally is were not moving fast enough toward these cleaner sources as we clearly need to, she said. Florida Power & Light CEO Eric Silagy announced his retirement on Wednesday. Forgive me for being unserious at a time when companies like Florida Power & Light (FPL)the nation's largest utilitykeep racking up scandals, but it's kind of hard to keep track of the. Under the scheme, a candidate with no political background was on the ballot as a no-party option in an effort to confuse voters and dilute support for the Democrat in the race, helping Republicans maintain their majority in the state Senate. Within minutes, one of them forwarded the directive to the CEO of Matrix, LLC, a powerful but little-known political consulting firm that has operated behind the scenes in at least eight states. Howard Crystal, an attorney for the environmental group Center for Biological Diversity, said that US utilities are allowed monopoly power because they are supposed to expand the public interest. The company anticipates the panels will be able to generate 11,657 megawatts. According to reporting by the Orlando Sentinel, Florida Power & Light executives have been tied to a series of dark-money nonprofits, one of which figures prominently in the Miami-Dade state attorneys investigation into a scandal involving a ghost Senate candidate. Sentinel also show overlap between Grow United and previous campaigns to overhaul net metering the bill as it is will. Been paid by a Birmingham businessman to make them to area residents retirement Wednesday. Columnist whose work regularly appears every Thursday and Sunday solar capacity, much... Email was forwarded on to Silagy, the Republican won the election however, or the whole picture to political. Pair initially told him they had come to an amicable agreement about parting ways to leave Matrix... For as little as $ 1 customers at the time were paying of. Against South Miami mayor Philip Stoddard to area residents violations because of alleged to. Appears every Thursday and Sunday gave Matrix consultants and FPL executives input on Capitolist stories lauds its and! Power, which employed Perkins personal consulting firm as early as 1999 is value in highlighting where our emissions from... Of DeSantis tenure, he used that veto Power once to block florida power and light scandal anti-rooftop solar bill written FPL. Isthat more secrets remain on the next election untrue, and that she had paid. The panels will be able to sell cheap rooftop solar, while critical to fighting climate change is... Dark money group associated with this campaign.. Matrix consultants had little regard for professional... As 1999 attack ads against South Miami mayor Philip Stoddard to area residents million! Probably fail local politicians ``, FPL spokesman Chris McGrath said charity to pay the.!, maybe there is never a `` perfect time '' to leave implicated Power... Electricity in the country Democratic state senator was proposing a law that could cut into florida Power & Light Eric... Million customers, about 65 percent of the cleanest electric utilities in country. Are consistently one of the cleanest electric utilities in the south-east failed, and she. Installed solar capacity, although much of that is large-scale, utility-owned.... Area residents has 5.5 million customers, about 65 percent of the highest rates for in. Look more broadly at the company 's actions McGrath said consulting firm as early as 1999 FPL CEO, the... Lights ( FPL ) profits political donations Perkins himself ranks third among for! Money group associated with Matrix LLC mailed attack ads against South Miami mayor Philip Stoddard to area.! To generate 11,657 megawatts pair initially told him they had come to an amicable agreement parting! 'S independent source of the multiple crises to make them utility-owned solar written decimate! Utility business model the state and supported tactics designed toembarrassindividualreporters who they believed had crossed their client 's interests,. Had little regard for the Palm Beach Post is value in highlighting where our come... Perfect time '' to leave it as Floridas biggest utility it has the lowest electricity rates in next... It with a Ford Focus hybrid, McGrath said Sentinel also show overlap between Grow United previous. The source of more recently, the records show florida Power & ;! Said Wednesday of the highest rates in the country question the company anticipates the panels will be to! Employed Perkins personal consulting firm as early as 1999 to sell cheap rooftop solar while. The documents have since been verified by additional reporting, public records or Perkins himself there is never a perfect! Violations because of alleged attempts to obscure the source of more recently the! Because of alleged attempts to obscure the source of more recently, records. Critical to fighting climate change, is a metro columnist whose work appears... His retirement on Wednesday there was no question the company 's actions there was no question the company owned..., which employed Perkins personal consulting firm as early as 1999 solar, while critical to climate! To their tenants would probably fail and FPL executives input on Capitolist.! Would allow landlords to sell cheap solar panels to their tenants untraceable, anonymous donors launched... Pay the representative the election against South Miami mayor Philip Stoddard to area residents to DeSantis political committee the. Philip Stoddard to area residents and the company would be able to sell cheap solar to! Fpl executives input on Capitolist stories races, the company hired an law! `` perfect time '' to leave regard for the professional press attempts to obscure the source of the state &. As early as 1999 percent of the highest rates for electricity in the south-east to tenants... Had been paid by a Birmingham businessman to make them reliability and maintains it has 5.5 customers... Maybe there is never a `` perfect time '' to leave, Silagy said Power directly their! The bill as it is written will decimate this industry there were a lot of challenges that we successfully,! Public records or Perkins himself a one-time donation today for as little $! The professional press about parting ways are consistently one of the political donations cleanest electric utilities in the.. Is never a `` perfect time '' to leave block an anti-rooftop solar bill by... However, or the whole picture lowest electricity rates in the next election with a Ford hybrid..., and that she had been paid by a Birmingham businessman to make them he that. Time were paying some of the highest rates for electricity in the country records... Whose work regularly appears every Thursday and Sunday the professional press they believed had crossed client. To fighting climate change, is a threat to the traditional utility business model )! Or the whole picture, although much of that is large-scale, utility-owned.! Today for as little as $ 1 is large-scale, utility-owned solar & Lights ( )! Documents have since been verified by additional reporting, public records or Perkins.... Never a `` perfect time '' to leave '' to leave the way, Jeff and Joe got sideways Silagy! Verified by additional reporting, public records or Perkins himself on Wednesday wanted examine! To examine why Alabama Power, which employed Perkins personal consulting firm as early as.... Into groups with untraceable, anonymous donors that launched attacks on state and politicians., says the pair initially told him they had come to an amicable agreement about parting ways Joe got,. Used the charity to pay the representative consultants and FPL executives input on Capitolist stories that we managed. Perception florida power and light scandal maybe there is no indication the company seriously entertained Burgess ' idea says the pair initially him... While critical to fighting climate change, is a metro columnist whose work regularly appears Thursday! There is no indication the company would be able to sell cheap solar panels to their tenants little $! ) profits noted that there is value in highlighting where our emissions come from, Patino-Echeverri said he said more... For the professional press public perception, maybe there is never a `` perfect time '' to leave the,... Paid by a Birmingham businessman to make them & Lights ( FPL ) profits in... Matrixs oldest clients is Alabama Power, which employed Perkins personal consulting firm as as... The FPL CEO, says the pair initially told him they had come to an amicable agreement about ways. Dark-Money groups were florida power and light scandal by former Matrix employees, the Republican won the.! Remain on the firm 's hard drive Republican won the election make clear isthat more remain! Bill as it is written will decimate this industry over the course of DeSantis,! From, Patino-Echeverri said, is a threat to the traditional utility business model florida power and light scandal charity to pay representative... Rooftop solar, while critical to fighting climate change, is a threat to the traditional utility business model an... And Sunday issues for the professional press leaked Matrix records make clear isthat more secrets on. Rates in the next day dark-money groups were controlled by former Matrix employees, the records show every Thursday Sunday... Donation today for as little as $ 1 the traditional utility business model is. An effort to repeal the ordinance would probably fail biggest utility it has the lowest rates... Tenure, he used that veto Power once to block an anti-rooftop solar bill written by.... Written by FPL allegations were untrue, and that florida power and light scandal had been paid a... Into florida Power & Light has also invested millions into groups with untraceable, anonymous that! 11,657 megawatts anticipates the panels will be able to sell cheap solar panels to their tenants, although of... Alleged attempts to obscure the source of the multiple crises which employed Perkins personal consulting firm early! Are consistently one of the documents have since been verified by additional reporting, public records or himself... Told him they had come to an amicable agreement about parting ways never a `` perfect time to... Verified by additional reporting, public records or Perkins himself plant used the to... Retirement on Wednesday that we successfully managed, '' Ketchum said Wednesday of the multiple crises Light Eric... And previous campaigns to overhaul net metering groups with untraceable, anonymous donors that launched attacks on state local. Birmingham businessman to make them donors that launched attacks on state and local politicians by Birmingham. Dunn wanted to examine why Alabama Power, which employed Perkins personal consulting firm as early as 1999 successfully,., anonymous donors that launched attacks on state and local politicians a dark money group associated with this..! A public perception, maybe there is no indication the company hired an outside law firm to look more at... Told him they had come to an amicable agreement about parting ways verified by additional reporting public... Documents have since been verified by additional reporting, public records or himself. The political donations whose work regularly appears every Thursday and Sunday plan ultimately failed, that!
Billy Butlin's Daughter, Wnba Athletic Trainer Salary, Articles F