That scheme included over half a million dollars spent on political mailers promoting the spoiler candidates. The other candidate later revealed that he had been bribed to run. NEW YORK, Feb 28(Reuters) - The new head of Florida Power & Light (FP&L) has at least one important objective above and beyond running U.S. power giant NextEra's crown jewel utility, analysts say: stay out of the headlines. Sign up for Mary Ellens newsletter Politics and Policy in the Sunshine State. Alissa Jean Schafer is a research and communications specialist at the Energy and Policy Institute. [] 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. 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. In California, Wait Lists for EV Rebates Are Long and Some Programs Have Shut Down: California needs to ramp up sales of electric vehicles to take on climate change and reduce air pollution, but consumers are having trouble navigating the states incentives and rebates, as Nadia Lopez reports for CalMatters. Bainter was also heavily involved in Perrys campaign and was suspected by some observers to have orchestrated the funding behind Gostons third-party candidacy, which may have included funds connected to a utility front group. Where did the $4 million paid by FPL to consultants working with Grow United, the nonprofit organization that funded the ghost candidate advertising, originate from and what was it spent on? 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. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. 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 investigation by the Federal Election Commission into the companys political giving. Canopy was started by former Matrix employees, led by Jeff Pitts. Their power over utilities in Florida was challenged by legislation proposed by the Democratic Senator of Florida, Jos Javier Rodrguez, in 2019. The Florida Public Service Commission reaffirmed the states current net metering rule in 2019 after the utilities last effort to weaken it, calling it an effective way to promote solar in the net-metering workshop held at the request of McClure. Artiles has long-standing close connections with FPL, as previously reported by Energy and Policy Institute in 2020 and 2021. Artiles has long-standing close connections with FPL, as previously reported by Energy and Policy Institute in 2020 and 2021. That's a tax rate of just 1.25 percent over that period, when the . FPL spokespeople denied that FPL had any role in the spoiler candidate scheme in a comment to the Sentinel. 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 NextEra's crown jewel utility, analysts say: stay . This effort takes a lot of resources to gather and update. 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. On Tuesday, it became clear that Wall Street had noticed the stories. That said, he acknowledges there is a cognitive dissonance between NextEras status as a major player in the transition to renewable energy and FPLs status as a utility that relies heavily on fossil fuels, with a reputation for fighting dirty in defending its interests. Heres the details, Miami Beach wants this nightclub to stop liquor sales at 2 a.m. The messy business of being 'green'. 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. Prior to his resignation, Artiles fast-tracked pro-utility bills as former chairman of the Florida Senates Communications, Energy and Public Utilities Committee, including one that would have allowed NextEra to charge its Florida customers for exploratory fracking in Oklahoma, an attempted end-run around a Florida Supreme Court ruling against FPL on the matter. Bradley and McClure have both taken tens of thousands of dollars in political contributions from Floridas investor-owned utilities. NextEra boasts that it is a green energy leader and the world's largest generator of wind energy all true but its assets are not all green. "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. 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. Since 2020, Florida-based news organizations have reported about FP&L's role in questionable political and campaign finance-related activity. 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. In this first story in a series, I look at how the plan has divided the community and strained relationships between longtime friends and neighbors. Canopy quickly filed its own lawsuit against Matrix. A similar sounding utility front group, Energy Fairness, is a client of McNicholas & Associates. 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? Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. NextEra, TECO, and AIF did not respond to a request for comment. 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. Since 2020, Florida-based news organizations have reported about FP&Ls role in questionable political and campaign finance-related activity. Has FPL ever given money to another nonprofit who worked with the consultants Lets Preserve the American Dream? See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. 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. 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. Inside Clean Energy is ICNs weekly bulletin of news and analysis about the energy transition. Im interested in what happened with FPL, but Im also looking at whether this cascade of revelations could harm the utilitys parent company, NextEra Energy, which happens to be the largest generator of renewable energy in the United States, and maybe the world. Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. 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TALLAHASSEE 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 Tuesday. In Florida, DeSantis May End the Battle Over Rooftop Solar With a Pen Stroke - Corruption by Cops, In Florida, DeSantis May End the Battle Over Rooftop Solar With a Pen Stroke - Earth2, Utility executive contributions surge in Minnesota state senate race - Energy and Policy Institute, Amid Connections to Ongoing Election Scandals, NextEra Pours Millions into Floridas 2022 Election Cycle - Energy and Policy Institute, Southwest Gas aims to make customers pay for its American Gas Association membership dues. Go to the kitchen tables of America. Canopy quickly filed its own lawsuit against Matrix. Operator: Good morning, and welcome to the NextEra Energy and NextEra Energy Partners Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Call. The scandal brings light to the measures electric companies will go to in order to protect their profits even those that claim to be in favor of pursuing renewable energy. FPL has also donated $20,000 to Perrys political committee, Building a Prosperous Florida, while TECO has donated $2,500. 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. His political committee, Veterans for Conservative Principles, received nearly $13,000 from NextEra and $5,000 from Duke. The Miami Herald has confirmed that NextEra has been conducting an internal investigationon FPLs involvement in the ghost candidate scheme. 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. 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. Contacted for a response, a NextEra spokesman did not address the issues at FPL or the potential for blowback for the parent company, but he did point to recent comments from Kirk Crews, NextEras chief financial officer. Federal agents arrested Ohio Speaker of the House Larry Householder, along with several lobbyists, on July 21 on charges that the group used $60 million of funds provided by the monopoly utility FirstEnergy Corp. in exchange for passing a law that bailed out that company's nuclear and coal plants. 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 investigation by the Federal Election Commission into the company's political giving. Nowhere in its 2021 ESG report does NextEra even mention methane . 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. 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. Siemens Gamesa, a Leading Maker of Wind Turbines, Is Struggling: Wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa lowered its financial outlook for 2022 and said it expects to lose money this year and next as it deals with high costs of raw materials and tough competition. 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. The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals. 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