Florida Power & Light
Encyclopedia
Florida Power & Light Company, the principal subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc. (formerly FPL Group, Inc.), commonly referred to by its initials, FPL, is a Juno Beach, Florida
Juno Beach, Florida
Juno Beach is a town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 3,262 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 3,391. Juno Beach is home to the headquarters of Florida Power & Light...

-based power utility which serves roughly 4.4 million customers in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. FPL Group holds power generation assets in more than 20 U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 states.

History

FPL was founded in 1925 by merging together a number of smaller companies providing power and other services to local communities in Florida, and grew with the growth in population the state has experienced.

FPL was the first company outside of Japan to win the Deming Prize
Deming Prize
The Deming prize, established in December 1950 in honor of W. Edwards Deming, was originally designed to reward Japanese companies for major advances in quality improvement...

 in 1989. Dr. Noriaki Kano
Noriaki Kano
Noriaki Kano is an educator, lecturer, writer and consultant in the field of quality management. He is the developer of a customer satisfaction model whose simple ranking scheme distinguishes between essential and differentiating attributes related to concepts of customer quality...

 was one of the consultants that helped FPL to reach this stature.

On June 20, 2005, FPL Group completed acquisition of Gexa Energy
Gexa Energy
Gexa Energy, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is an American retail electricity provider which sells electricity service to residential and commercial customers in all deregulated markets in Texas.The company is a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources...

, a retail electricity provider located in Houston and active in the deregulated Texas electricity market
Deregulation of the Texas Electricity Market
Electricity deregulation in Texas was the result of the coming into force of Texas Senate Bill 7 on January 1, 2002. According to the law, deregulation is to be phased in over several years....

. At the time of acquisition, Gexa Energy had grown to over $273 million in 2004 revenues and further had been serving 100,000 total meters within the state of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. FPL Group acquired Gexa Energy for approximately US$81 million.

On December 19, 2005, FPL Group, Inc. announced that it was purchasing Constellation Energy
Constellation Energy
Constellation Energy, headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, is an energy producer, trader, and distributor. The company operates over 35 power plants in 11 states under its operating company Constellation Commodities Group and/or Constellation Generation Group...

 in a merger transaction valued at more than US$11 billion and that it would adopt "Constellation Energy" as its name for the post-merger entity. The merger was cancelled on 25 October 2006.

On June 6, 2007, the state of Florida rejected FPL's proposal to build a coal-burning power plant on 5000 acres (20.2 km²) in Moore Haven, Florida
Moore Haven, Florida
Moore Haven is a city in Glades County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,635 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 1,726. It is the county seat of Glades County...

, near the western edge of Lake Okeechobee
Lake Okeechobee
Lake Okeechobee , locally referred to as The Lake or The Big O, is the largest freshwater lake in the state of Florida. It is the seventh largest freshwater lake in the United States and the second largest freshwater lake contained entirely within the lower 48 states...

, citing concerns that it would emit toxic mercury in the lake and also harm the Everglades. FPL stated that the decision could result in higher electricity rates for customers.

On August 13, 2007, FPL workers at the company's St. Lucie Nuclear plant in Florida discovered a leak in one of the facility's condensation pumps. The plant was ordered to reduce its power output until repairs were made.

In 2008 activists complained about the 3,800 megawatt gas/diesel West County Energy Center, then under construction. They argued that the location of the power plant, less than 1000 feet (304.8 m) from the northern point of the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge
Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge
The 147,392 acre Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge includes the most northern remnant of the historic Everglades wetland ecosystem...

, would endanger the entire Everglades ecosystem including the approximately thirty threatened or endangered species that live in the refuge. They argued that millions of gallons of waste water will be deep-well injected below the Floridan aquifer daily, putting a strain on water supplies in South Florida if the power plant is completed.

On February 26, 2008, a large power outage occurred after eight power plants went off-line in the region which affected approximately 600,000 to 800,000 Florida residents.

Beginning on January 5, 2009, 30 environmental activists staged a five-day vigil along the Barley Barber Swamp
Barley Barber Swamp
The Barley Barber Swamp, once a vast Bald Cypress forest and waterway in the Greater Everglades watershed, is a parcel of land surrounded by Florida Power & Light's Martin County power plant. The swamp is located just over a mile east of Lake Okeechobee and due west of Indiantown, Florida...

, a 440 acres (1.8 km²) old growth cypress forest owned by Florida Power & Light, to draw attention to what they claimed were damages being wrought by the power company's 3,705 megawatt Martin County plant. The activists claim that the Martin County power plant is drawing water from the aquifer below the swamp causing the soil to subside below the root systems of the trees. They also claim that the swamp exhibits several trees aged over 1,000 years, making them the oldest in Florida. On January 10 seventeen of the activists were arrested for trespassing. Florida Power & Light has since stated that the company will reopen the Barley Barber Swamp by 2010.

On January 7, 2009, FPL Energy announced it was changing its name to NextEra Energy Resources
NextEra Energy Resources
NextEra Energy Resources is an wholesale electricity supplier based in Juno Beach, Florida. It is a subsidiary of NextEra Energy, Inc. , a Fortune 200 company. Prior to 2009, NextEra Energy Resources was known as FPL Energy....

to highlight its commitment to renewable energy.

In 2011, construction was started on a $1.1 billion gas-fired plant replacement of its "Cape Canaveral" facility in Sharpes
Sharpes, Florida
Sharpes is a census-designated place in Brevard County, Florida, United States. The population was 3,415 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Palm Bay–Melbourne–Titusville Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

.

Gas plants

At 3,705 MW, FPL's Martin County Power Plant, which burns gas and oil, is currently the single largest fossil fuel burning power plant in the United States. It is located in Western Martin County, just north of Indiantown
Indiantown, Florida
Indiantown is a census-designated place in Martin County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,588 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Port St. Lucie Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

. It was originally permitted in the early 1970s and has expanded to its current size since. The plant is cooled with water which is then pumped into the surrounding 17 miles (27.4 km) cooling pond, one of the largest bodies of water in the state of Florida. Jutting into the cooling pond is the Barley Barber Swamp
Barley Barber Swamp
The Barley Barber Swamp, once a vast Bald Cypress forest and waterway in the Greater Everglades watershed, is a parcel of land surrounded by Florida Power & Light's Martin County power plant. The swamp is located just over a mile east of Lake Okeechobee and due west of Indiantown, Florida...

, a 440 acres (1.8 km²) plot of old growth pond cypress forest, which is home to bald eagles and numerous other threatened plant and animal species.

FPL is currently constructing a permitted 3,800 megawatt power plant, the West County Energy Center (WCEC) in Northern Palm Beach County, in the Everglades Agricultural Area, 1000 feet (304.8 m) from the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge. The refuge functions as the northern headwaters of the entire southern Everglades ecosystem. Once completed, the WCEC will be the largest fossil fuel power plant in the United States.

Nuclear plants

FPL is majority owner and operator of the St. Lucie
St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant
St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant is a twin nuclear power station located on Hutchinson Island, near Ft. Pierce, Florida in St. Lucie County. Both units are Combustion Engineering pressurized water reactors...

 and Turkey Point
Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station
Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station is a twin reactor nuclear power station located on a 3,300-acre site 2 miles east of Homestead, Florida, United States, next to Biscayne National Park located about 25 miles south of Miami, Florida near the southernmost edge of Miami-Dade...

 nuclear power plant
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...

s.

FPL has proposed building two more nuclear generators at Turkey Point.

Solar power plants

FPL is building the Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center — a $476 million, 75 MW(peak) parabolic trough
Parabolic trough
A parabolic trough is a type of solar thermal energy collector. It is constructed as a long parabolic mirror with a Dewar tube running its length at the focal point. Sunlight is reflected by the mirror and concentrated on the Dewar tube...

 array on 500 acres (202.3 ha) of the Martin County, Florida
Martin County, Florida
Martin County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 126,731. The U.S. Census Bureau 2008 estimate for the county is 138,660. Its county seat is Stuart, Florida.- History :...

 plant. The solar collectors will feed heat to the existing steam plant, reducing the need for gas.
The energy from the solar array will generate power at a rate of 155,000 MW·h per year (18 MW).

FPL is building two solar photovoltaic power generation systems at Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program...

.http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=28248

Now operational is the 25MW DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center
DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center
The DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center is a photovoltaic solar power facility in Arcadia, DeSoto County, Florida owned by Florida Power & Light .President Barack Obama attended the plant's commissioning on October 27, 2009...

 in DeSoto County, Florida
DeSoto County, Florida
DeSoto County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 32,209. The U.S. Census Bureau 2005 estimate for the county is 35,406 . Its county seat is Arcadia, Florida. The county comprises the Arcadia, Florida Micropolitan Statistical Area.- History :DeSoto...

. . The facility uses more than 90,000 photovoltaic panels to supply power more than 3,000 homes.

Babcock Ranch

Florida Power & Light proposed to build a 75-megawatt solar photovoltaic array at Babcock Ranch
Babcock Ranch
Babcock Ranch is an approximately planned community under development in Southwest Floridathat was approved as part of a public-private partnership strategy with the State of Florida and local governments that established the neighboring Babcock Ranch Preserve...

, the nation's first proposed solar-powered city, located in Lee and Charlotte Counties, Florida.

Hurricane Wilma

After Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. Wilma was the twenty-second storm , thirteenth hurricane, sixth major hurricane, and fourth Category 5 hurricane of the record-breaking 2005 season...

, FPL reported that about 3 million customers were without power in the South Florida area. About 20 days later, with the help of other power companies, FPL restored the majority of power in Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.

Taxes Paid

In April 2009, BusinessWeek
BusinessWeek
Bloomberg Businessweek, commonly and formerly known as BusinessWeek, is a weekly business magazine published by Bloomberg L.P. It is currently headquartered in New York City.- History :...

 magazine reported that FPL Group was one of 25 US companies that paid the least US taxes. FPL Group paid a 1.3 percent annual tax rate, far less than the standard 35 percent corporate rate, based on an analysis of the company's financial figures for 2005-2008. On more than $7 billion in company earnings during this four-year period, FPL Group paid $88 million in taxes. This low rate was possible given tax breaks for having invested in alternative energy. A company spokesperson said the company is merely taking advantage of incentives to develop renewable resources. To ensure these tax breaks continue, in 2008 alone, FPL Group paid more than $500,000 to five major lobbying firms that lobby Congress.

See also

  • NextEra Energy Resources
    NextEra Energy Resources
    NextEra Energy Resources is an wholesale electricity supplier based in Juno Beach, Florida. It is a subsidiary of NextEra Energy, Inc. , a Fortune 200 company. Prior to 2009, NextEra Energy Resources was known as FPL Energy....

  • Plant Scherer (coal-fired plant in Georgia co-owned by FPL)
  • List of power stations in Florida

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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