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. The company was trading well above its peers before news that Silagy would leave his post this month and depart the company in mid-May. NextEras executives and shareholders have reason to worry, but its too soon to know how much. FPL CEO Eric Silagy appears to have personally directed money to the web of dark money groups, with records showing correspondence from Silagy to the consultants directly. Go to the kitchen tables of America. 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News. 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 out of the headlines. 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. Armando Pimentel, who held executive roles in finance at NextEra for more than a decade before retiring in 2019, is coming back in what investors hope will mark the end of FP&L's era of . You want to measure economic success? The most comprehensive solution to manage all your complex and ever-expanding tax and compliance needs. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License by Energy and Policy Institute. Entergy, which donated $10,000 to the Party and [], [] has not shied away from shady political dealings in the past. Artiles faces multiple felony charges in connection to an alleged election scheme that successfully ousted Senator Jose Javier Rodriguez, a long-time climate advocate. You can keep up with her work on her site Environment.co. If . To the larger question of NextEras public image, Pomerantz answers with a question: What happens when the companys reputation as an unethical actor extends to their clean energy efforts? he asked. Florida Supreme Court ruling against FPL on the matter. A little over a month ago, NextEra Energy and its yieldco affiliate NextEra Energy Partners NEP +2.4% (NEP) raised financial guidance for calendar years . The company, which has its main office in Spain, is hinting at job cuts, as Isla Binnie reports for Reuters. In a Jan. 5 letter, they asked the commission to determine whether the company was using ratepayer money for political purposes. But the company is limited in what it can do to defend itself because of reams of evidence, in leaked emails and texts, showing that company executives were aware of at least some of what was happening. 11/22/2021. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. 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. In 2017, Perry voted in support of NextEras exploratory fracking legislation while serving on the Communications, Energy and Public Utilities Committee chaired by Artiles. Date. Artiles has pleaded not guilty to the charges. That scheme included over half a million dollars spent on political mailers promoting the spoiler candidates. But nobody brought up FPLs alleged skulduggery during the hearing. 11/30/2021. The settlement is the end result of a . CTRL + SPACE for auto-complete. The legislators responded on Jan. 10, saying they considered the PSCs review incomplete given the news stories. Political editor Emily L. Mahoney will send you a rundown on local, state and national politics coverage every Thursday. Nowhere in its 2021 ESG report does NextEra even mention methane . Other utilities have tried similar strategies, but none have done it on the scale of NextEra. [] Click here to view original web page at http://www.energyandpolicy.org [], [] Its not clear yet whether law enforcement officials are investigating FPL or its executives for their involvement in the ghost candidate scheme, though the scandal has already resulted in criminal charges for some of its parties. 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. NextEra Energy CEO James Robo responded to a question from a Bank of America Securities analyst and said the company had FPL CEO Eric Silagy turn over emails and text messages and concluded. All . Its not clear yet whether law enforcement officials are investigating FPL or its executives for their involvement in the ghost candidate scheme, though the scandal has already resulted in criminal charges for some of its parties. He helped build NextEra Energy Resources and seemed to choose his retirement as opposed to being forced out, the former colleague said. 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. The shady business practices of FPL, as well as the discrepancy between NextEra being a catalyst in the clean energy movement while FPL relies on fossil fuels, may not bode well. [] 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. 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. You can reach her at meklas@miamiherald.com and on Twitter @MaryEllenKlas. Where the scorpions on the corner just might kill you. Dan Gearino covers the midwestern United States, part of ICNs National Environment Reporting Network. Armando Pimentel, who held executive roles in finance at NextEra for more than a decade before retiring in 2019, is coming back in what investors hope will mark the end of FP&Ls era of political and campaign-finance scandals. Heres the details, Miami Beach wants this nightclub to stop liquor sales at 2 a.m. The firm, which also includes consultants Matt Mitchell and Michael Sheehan, came under intense scrutiny for their role in Floridas redistricting and were required to turn in over 1,800 pages of records as part of a lawsuit filed by Fair District voting-rights groups in 2013. AIF has close financial ties to Floridas investor owned utilities, as EPI has documented. We rely on donations from readers like you to keep going. Send news tips and questions to dan.gearino@insideclimatenews.org. Additionally, the bill limits any grandfathering into the current policy to ten years, while many systems in Florida are financed beyond that timeframe, which means that customers who bought solar panels under the current net metering policy would see the value of their investments sharply decrease. It begs the question of who the PSC serves is it Floridians or is it utility companies?. About NextEra Energy NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) is a leading clean energy company headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida. The company was implicated in a ghost candidate scheme in Florida that ousted a climate advocate from state office. In one Orlando Sentinel article, Silagy was accused of working with a political consultant to harass a Democratic state senator who introduced legislation unfavorable to FP&L. Its frustrating to see the Public Service Commission express no interest or concern in Floridas largest investor-owned utility company engaging in questionable smear campaigns and potentially illegal election activity while they increase rates, she said Wednesday. An abandoned shovel is to blame. He also was instrumental in the 2019 political campaign against the so-called energy choice petition drive, which was opposed by FPL and other utilities. NextEra Energy is a total fraud, and veritably a criminal entity. 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. In response to the stories, FPL has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Even if you put somebody who is a perfectly fine individual with a financial background and doesnt have this aggressive history it doesnt necessarily make up for the fact of all that did happen in very recent history, Schafer said. They remained that way until they took a stake in early wind farms in exchange for canceling the debts owed to them. Sign up for Mary Ellens newsletter Politics and Policy in the Sunshine State. His coverage deals with the business side of the clean-energy transition and he writes ICNs Inside Clean Energy newsletter. Eskamani of Orlando said Baezs response left her unsatisfied. He started by questioning my premise that NextEra has a good reputation while its subsidiary, FPL, has taken some serious hits. Theres a recipe in triumph and tragedy, Company run out of a Brooklyn walk-up shorted Florida produce packers $159,000 in pay, What Is Chapter 13 Bankruptcy? Its useless at this time because theres nothing out there and the cars that you do find, everythings gone up in price.. The Miami Herald has confirmed that NextEra has been conducting an internal investigationon FPLs involvement in the ghost candidate scheme. For example, Richard Alexander, who lives in Cullman, Ala., and not only chairs Grow United, he also has been tied to groups that were created to promote the agenda of Floridas powerful sugar and electric utilities industries, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Pulitzer Prize-winning, nonpartisan reporting on the biggest crisis facing our planet. His political committee, Veterans for Conservative Principles, received nearly $13,000 from NextEra and $5,000 from Duke. 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. Floridas largest utility has a lot of explaining to do after news organizations revealed some unseemly conduct. Get a daily email of our original, groundbreaking stories written by our national network of award-winning reporters. Alabama political firm and former NextEra consultant Matrix LLC, led by Joe Perkins, sued Canopy LLC, another firm allegedly working with NextEra. Before that, he covered politics and business in Iowa and in New Hampshire. If trust in NextEra dwindlesand seemingly it has, if stock recommendations are anything to judge bypeople might be less willing to consider the installation of a wind farm in the. He also was instrumental in the 2019 political campaign against the so-called energy choice petition drive, which was opposed by FPL and other utilities. Rodrguez lost his Senate seat the following year, resulting in Republicans gaining control of the Florida Senate. Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. Its video library also archives coverage for later viewing. Learn More 2022 ESG Report TOP 20 in the world for innovation, according to Fortune Veterans for Conservative Principles treasurer was Dave Ramba, whose firm Ramba Consulting Group has lobbied for FPL for years. That promise would allow the company to continue . While it is not illegal to conspire to place a third-party candidate into an election, paying for that placement and failing to properly report the money involved is. 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. offered a job that was arranged by consultants for FPL in an unsuccessful attempt to get him to resign from the commission. FPL this year announced a plan it calls Real Zero to completely eliminate carbon emissions from its operations by 2045. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. If you havent already subscribed, please consider buying a print or digital subscription. 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. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. NextEra Energy is the largest generator of renewable energy in the United States and possibly the world. 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. All three districts received slightly modified versions of the same mailer, which seemed to target liberal-leaning voters in an apparent effort to siphon those votes away from the Democratic candidate. As the biggest player in the game, investors, politicians, and civilians rely on NextEra to play a major role in encouraging and supporting clean energy legislation. There is no word on whether the internal investigationaddressed efforts associated with Operation Ginger., Copyright 2021 US TIMES NOW Cream Magazine by Themebeez, NextEra Energy (NE) is currently under investigation by the Florida Department of Law, SSD enabled fast speed data processing in Europe based VPS Server Hosting from TheServerHost, Ace DJ Artist talent DJ Nitin(NG) aka Nitin Gaikwad is Gaining Global Popularity As An Wedding DJ, Spotify is introducing a new and improved plus button in place of its heart icon, Palantir will eliminate 75 jobs or about 2% of the employees, Dr. Malda Aldaoudi consider Lifted Eyebrows and Fox Eye Lift as the latest trends. An internal NextEra investigation found no wrongdoing, executives on the companys latest earnings call said, adding that Silagys departure was unrelated to any controversies. In an unsuccessful attempt to get him to resign from the commission to determine whether company... 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