In all, the centerproduces enough electricity for 750,000 homes and businesses. Perkins has repeatedly denied leaking records, though he has verified the authenticity of numerous records underlying recent stories by the Times-Union, Orlando Sentinel and Floodlight, a nonprofit investigative news outlet. One of Matrixs oldest clients is Alabama Power, which employed Perkins personal consulting firm as early as 1999. 1 factor to reduce greenhouse gases is the transition from coal to gas. Learn More About FPL News Company Careers Environment Community Donate to Care To Share Rates and Your Bill About Energy Energy My Way Ensuring Reliability Clean Energy Solar Electric Vehicles Power Disturbances Safety Partner Resources Supplier Home and Login PIC Login Silagy, who has been with the company for 20 years, has led FPL since 2011, having risen through the ranks by serving as chief development officer and senior vice president of regulatory and state governmental affairs. But advocates fear that a FPL-drafted bill to rewrite the states net metering rules will slowly chip away at the main financial incentive for homeowners and businesses to go solar. Heffley suggested that he could send it via email today or we will be at the Capitol next week., Holley declined to provide an electronic version and offered to drop it off in person the following week. Map showing route taken by Matrix LLC to oust Jose Javier Rodriguez from office. As such, it would seem the FPL plantsinclusion on the list is unfair. influencing local mayoral and county commission elections, a Miami Herald story about the allegation, graphic showing acquisition flow of The Capitolist, Graphic showing number of stops taken by Matrix private planes. small-scale solar capacity in the state. It is a regulated monopoly which means that the. According to FPL, the plant also has the best available and most advanced emission-control equipment.. They dont make money off of the solar power generated from rooftops. NeitherFPL executives nor the consultants identified in the secret records have been accused of wrongdoing in that investigation. The mayor, Lenny Curry, was ideologically predisposed to privatize a large government agency like JEA, and both the official and political arms of his office were surrounded by friends of FPL. FPL has repeatedly denied any involvement in the "ghost candidate" controversy stemming from the 2020 election cycle, but Matrix records show the company's consultants were deeply involved. Florida Power & Light is pushing for it as Floridas biggest utility it has 5.5 million customers, about 65 percent of the state. It backed a failed ballot amendment in 2016 that would have allowed regulators to impose fees and barriers to rooftop solar installation. Maybe we should double down on energy-efficiency measures. Big power companies operate as monopolies with captive customers in much of the south-east US. An Alabama governor the company worked for was convicted of federal felony corruption charges. Three people were federally convicted for their role in the ploy. They proposed offering a job to Garrett Dennis, a member of the Jacksonville City Council who had been outspoken against selling JEA. Inat least one case, they had this Times-Union columnist surveilled, according to the secret records. And additional reporting since last year has made it clear the leakedMatrix records contain legitimate information. For many years and without my knowledge or approval, Pitts abused his power and position to benefit himself and his cronies, Perkins said in a statement. 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 . Pitts at the time forwarded a draft of the script to two FPL executives. 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. As their feud escalated, internal documents started to arrive in reporters email inboxes from unknown sources. But in the years that followed, FPL would loosen the grip of its dependence on oil-powered plants, including demolishing a 1960s-era Riviera Beach oil plant, with its memorable red-and-white smokestacks, and rebuilding it in 2014 as a natural gas plant. "When you think about all the challenges that he had to overcome, with the hurricanes and high natural gas prices and inflation and supply chain and, you know, the media allegations and all those things, I think it took a toll on Eric that year," Ketchum said during a question-and-answer session on the call. Thats not where the story ends, however, or the whole picture. 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. Source: Orlando Sentinel Florida Power & Light execs worked closely with consultants behind 'ghost' candidate scheme, records reveal | Special Report By JASON GARCIA and ANNIE MARTIN ORLANDO SENTINEL | DEC 02, 2021 AT 9:46 AM Top executives at utility giant Florida Power & Light worked closely with the political consultants who orchestrated a scheme to promote spoiler candidates in three . Money from the company also covertly secured favorable media coverage, investigations by the Orlando Sentinel, the Miami Herald, the Guardian, NPR, and Floodlight found. Going through those tens of thousands ofrecords, he said, alerted him to the extent of work Pitts performed without his knowledge. That cost is based on the avoided cost that the utility would have incurred if it were to install a comparable system. The proposed legislation could seriously curtail that growth. 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. NPR and Floodlight reported the same consulting firm did work in Alabama for that state's dominant energy utility, Alabama Power, and funneled money to news sites there that reported negatively on the utility's critics and regulators. And FPL is taking other public-relations hits that make the once-unstoppable company suddenly look more exposed:Earlier this month, for example,FPL uncharacteristically backed off a winter-hardeningproposal that critics alleged could have led to costly customer charges. Former FPL senior executive Armando Pimentel was named as Silagy's replacement. And for that reason money spent in the present is almost always justified by the potential future: An election cycle might cost an investor-owned utility millions to meaningfully influence, but failing to do so could cost billions later. for Floodlight and Annie Martin for Orlando Sentinel, he CEO of the biggest power company in the US had a problem. In seeking ways to reduce carbon dioxide pollution particularly to address federal emissions goals that aim to stem the effects of climate change its natural to look at the high-emitting plants to find opportunities for efficiencies, said Dalia Patino-Echeverri, an associate professor at Duke Universitys Nicholas School of the Environment, who studies public policy design for energy systems. You need this large power plant.. Nate Monroe is a metro columnist whose work regularly appears every Thursday and Sunday. Asked by Wall Street analysts during an earnings call on Wednesday whether Silagy's retirement was in any way prompted by those reports, the parent company's chief executive asserted that was not the case. He said what he found was deeply disturbing. 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're not making a connection," said John Ketchum, CEO of NextEra Energy. That decision catapulted the growth of small-scale solar capacity in the state. Matrix consultants had little regard for the professional press. The warm light races across a 600-mile expanse of land and coast before finally brightening the Perdido River in Escambia County on Florida's western border. "We contributeto organizations where we're aligned on what the ultimate goal is, and from the standpoint of having the Senate at the time, who was being led by (Senate President) Wilton Simpson, continue to be able to be led by Wilton Simpson,I was a fan of that," FPL CEO Eric Silagy, recently told me and several other journalists with the Times-Union, Orlando Sentinel and Floodlight in a wide-ranging interview in Jacksonville. Rob Bradley, an influential politician who was head of the Senate budget committee. Artiles pleaded not guilty. "And we support organizations who had that mission.". He is suing Pitts in Alabama for fraud and conspiracy. On the outskirts of Wellington, just before 20-Mile Bend, stands a behemoth of a power plant on a site as big as 166 football fields. The state senator went on to lose re-election by six votes. So far, there have been two criminal investigations into the campaign against Rodrguez and another Democratic state senate candidate, leading to charges against five people, though authorities have not accused Matrix or FPL of wrongdoing. While some of the actions taken by FPL tick the boxes to reduce emissions, more can be done, Shober said. 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. 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. Burgess said he never pitched nor solicited feedback from FPL executives on any story or business venture, and FPL spokesperson Chris McGrath said acquiring a news organization would not have made sense as a business deal for FPL. Once he left, Pitts said Perkins smeared him to clients in an attempt to extort millions. Theres no time and its urgent, she said. From the beginning, Matrix showed no aversion to unsavory political tactics. However, those policies are coming under fire as utilities become. That gave Matrix consultants and FPL executives input on Capitolist stories. She said the support she got from other teams was 'overwhelming. The warm light races across a 600-mile expanse of land and coast before finally brightening the Perdido River in Escambia County on Florida's western border. Silagy, CEO since 2014, will depart the company in April. FPL bristled at the inclusion of its power plantson the list bythe website Find Energy, which aggregates and analyzes finalized government data on electricity companies. A note of gratitude to our friends at the Orlando Sentinel and Floodlight News, with whom we have worked in partnership to report our stories. 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. Responding to dark money controversy, NextEra did internal investigation into FPL. In the Southeast, power company money flows to news sites that attack their critics, She was an ABC News producer. Emails show that Bradleys staff followed up with Florida Power & Light after that discussion. The West County Energy Center, first serving Florida Power & Light customers in 2009 before reaching its current capacity two years later, is a natural gas-burning plant. We need to have the debate, he said. President and CEO of Florida Power & Light Eric Silagy speaks to the media after FPL imploded its last Florida . The money was allegedly funneled through a network of tax-exempt nonprofits that obscured its origin. 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. At the Birmingham office where Pitts and the others had worked, Perkins said he found a backup server that appeared to have been beaten with something. Customers at the time were paying some of the highest rates for electricity in the south-east. Southern Company and Alabama Power run the state of Alabama, Dunn said. Hours later, a story like the one the executive pitched appeared on The Capitolist. Get the latest updates in news, food, music and culture, and receive special offers direct to your inbox. Maggie Shober, research director with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, agreed that the report shows just one of many ways to look at emissions. Reporting, primarily by the Orlando Sentinel, showed spoiler candidates in three state Senate races in 2020 were propped up by at least a half-million dollars from dark-money groups in an effort to help damage the Democrats in those races and help Republicans control the chamber. 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. Along with a private investigator, the group delved into Stoddards past for episodes to weaponize against him, such as a South Miami commissioners claim on Facebook that Stoddard had forcibly kissed her. Its parent company had initiated an investigation of related media reports there. We understand this may mean youll continue your campaign to smear FPL or our employees, FPL spokesperson David Reuter told us in the last communication between the company and our reporting team. The ghostcandidate controversy set off a wide-ranging criminal investigation by prosecutors in Miami, whosecured a guilty pleafrom the independent candidate in District 37 andfiled felony charges against Frank Artiles, a former Republican lawmaker accused of bribing the candidate to run. Miami's independent source of There has to be a transition. "I want you to make his life a living hell seriously," Silagy wrote in a 2019 email to two of his vice-presidents about one of the Democratic state senators whose 2020 electoral contest was complicated by a spoiler candidate. The governors office also comes with a bully pulpit and executive order authority, both of which DeSantis has used frequently, pushing his anti-woke platform on everything from school curriculum to state pensions, unilaterally suspending elected officials, and creating his own election police agency. But DeSantis election police agency has remained silent on FPLs connection to election scandals, criminal trials, and ongoing investigations, instead focusing on the arrest of 20 individuals who may have registered to vote while ineligible, despite allegedly being told that they were eligible to vote, and the states issuance of voter IDs. In Florida, FPL and Matrix demonstrated how a utility and its consultants can work in tandem to resist clean energy reforms. The company provided The Palm Beach Post with 2019 data on emissions and energy production at power plants, including its own, which was in line with the source of the 2020 data used by Find Energy. Many of the documents have since been verified by additional reporting, public records or Perkins himself. Matrix employees spent heavily on political advertisements for a candidate with the same last name as Rodrguez, who split the vote. We'll get them back on Check the FPL Power Tracker for updates on any outages in your area or report one to us. If were trying to look all in, theres a whole lot to consider upstream from just the burning of the fuel., FPLs McGrath said the Find Energyreport also doesnt tell the companys whole modernization story.. You gotta bow down and kiss the ring.. Meanwhile, Matrix-led non-profits funded a blizzard of ads against Stoddard, accusing him of using public money for vendettas and placing him alongside infamous sex offenders Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein. Moving Florida toward a brighter energy future. The team decided an effort to repeal the ordinance would probably fail. All of that work was a closely held secret until recently. The complaint implicated Florida Power & Light in violations of election law due to alleged attempts to obscure the source of political donations. FPL deployed lobbyists to the capital, while Matrix hired private investigators to dig for dirt and had operatives funnel dark money and order attack ads. NextEras CEO called net-zero emission targets disingenuous without plans to get to real zero, according to reports. See How. And a former regional administrator for the EPA who did business with Pitts pleaded guilty to violating state ethics law multiple times. The company's owner, Joe Perkins, and its former CEO, Jeff Pitts, parted ways in early 2021, becoming bitter enemies locked in legal battles in courtrooms in Alabama and Jacksonville. independent local journalism in Miami. With these facilities, FPL replaced inefficient 20th-century coal plants and weaned itself off foreign imported oil. The records also demonstrate that secrecy is no substitute for sophistication or savvy: Some of Matrix's tricks did little to improve FPL's business prospects and, in fact, have now served to humiliate the utility like Silagy's use of a pseudonym email account belonging to a fictitious "Theodore Hayes" to communicate with Matrix employees (a tactic detailed in the leaked Matrix records that both FPL and Silagy himself confirmed took place). Consultants who control Grow United billed FPL for over $3 million before the entity started moving funds around for the election scheme. Indeed, the company's future looked bright. FPL consultants also used Broken Promises to boost a spoiler candidate in a 2018 state senate race in Gainesville, FL, according to previous reporting from Miami Herald. "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. She also was a corporate operative. 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. A dark money group associated with Matrix LLC mailed attack ads against South Miami mayor Philip Stoddard to area residents.

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