JUNO BEACH, Fla. – Florida Power & Light Company, along with Gulf Power, continue developing clean, zero-emissions energy solutions while retiring older, less efficient facilities that will save its customers millions of dollars in fuel costs and improve the environment, according to an updated plan filed with regulators today.
By the end of this year, the world’s largest solar-powered battery storage facility, which is currently under construction in Manatee County, along with seven new solar energy centers, will be operational, according to FPL’s Ten-Year Site Plan filed with the Florida Public Service Commission.
By the end of the decade, FPL forecasts that nearly 40% of the company’s power will be generated by zero-emissions energy sources – a more than 65% increase from 2020.
“FPL continues its rapid expansion of bringing clean energy that is also reliable and affordable to the more than 11 million people we serve throughout the state,” said Eric Silagy, FPL President and CEO. “Since we built our first solar energy center in 2009, we have continued to make smart, long-term investments in solar energy centers, battery storage facilities and even a green hydrogen pilot project, which may help us create an emissions-free energy future. These projects continue to deliver for our customers and make Florida a leader in sustainability and resiliency at costs well below the national average.”
While FPL continues to build new, emissions-free power generating facilities, the company will retire less efficient power plants, including earlier this year when both FPL and Gulf Power ceased coal-fired power generation at its Florida facilities.
Other highlights of the Ten-Year Site Plan:
Solar Energy Centers
- Continuing to reflect FPL’s bold plan of installing 30 million solar panels by 2030, FPL’s updated resource projection shows more than 11,000 MW of installed solar capacity by 2030, enough energy to power more than 2 million homes.
- FPL is already Florida’s largest solar producer with nearly 40 solar energy centers in operation – four of which became operational in the last two months – and seven more solar energy centers under construction and scheduled to be operational later this year.
Battery Storage Facilities
- The company’s rapid integration of innovative battery storage technology allows FPL to extend the hours in which solar energy can be used – even when the sun isn’t shining – and provide clean energy to customers when demand is highest.
- By the end of the decade, an additional 700 MW – the equivalent of powering 140,000 homes or charging more than 400,000 electric vehicles – will be added to FPL and Gulf Power’s service area. This is a nearly 186% increase from 2021.
Eliminating Coal in Florida
- Over the last several years, FPL has shut down coal-fired units to save customers millions of dollars and significantly reduce emissions.
- On Jan. 1, FPL officially shut down the rarely used Indiantown Cogeneration plant in Martin County – its last remaining coal-fired power plant in Florida.
- Gulf Power ceased coal-fired power generation at its plant in Escambia County. The plant, now known as the Gulf Clean Energy Center, has been converted to generate energy using American-produced natural gas, reducing the plant’s emissions rate by 40%.
Less Reliance on Natural Gas
- The company is currently building the FPL Dania Beach Clean Energy Center, an ultra-efficient power plant that will replace the aging, inefficient and now dismantled units at the Fort Lauderdale site.
- Based on the latest resource projections, FPL does not currently anticipate the need to build another new natural gas power plant through 2030, once the Dania Beach plant begins serving customers and four natural gas-fueled generating units begin operating in Gulf Power’s service area later this year.
Continuing Use of Emissions-Free Nuclear:
- The company plans to make a request to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to extend the licenses of St. Lucie Units 1 and 2, allowing for up to 20 additional years of operations of these zero-emissions facilities. Last year, the NRC approved license extensions to the two nuclear units at Turkey Point.
Updated annually, FPL’s Ten-Year Site Plan outlines its current strategies for reliably and economically meeting the anticipated needs of its customers over the next decade. Each utility’s plan includes an estimate of its future electric generation resource needs remaining after accounting for changes in existing resources; a projection for how these estimated resource needs might be met; and information about preferred and potential future power plant sites. The plan also accounts for the projected impacts of FPL and Gulf Power’s demand side management programs and the forecasted impacts of energy efficiency codes and standards.
Through the Florida Public Service Commission, Florida has a rigorous resource evaluation, planning and reporting process. This process sets Florida apart from many other states that have experienced high costs and limited supplies of power. By anticipating system reliability needs and customer growth, and continuously evaluating the best and most cost-effective resources to meet those needs, FPL can avoid problems that others have experienced.
Florida Power & Light Company
Florida Power & Light Company is the largest energy company in the U.S. as measured by retail electricity produced and sold. The company serves more than 5.6 million customer accounts supporting more than 11 million residents across Florida with clean, reliable and affordable electricity. FPL operates one of the cleanest power generation fleets in the U.S and in 2020 won the ReliabilityOne® National Reliability Excellence Award, presented by PA Consulting, for the fifth time in the last six years. The company was recognized in 2020 as one of the most trusted U.S. electric utilities by Escalent for the seventh consecutive year. FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), a clean energy company widely recognized for its efforts in sustainability, ethics and diversity, and has been ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry in Fortune's 2021 list of "World's Most Admired Companies." NextEra Energy is also the parent company of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. For more information about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.
Cautionary Statements and Risk Factors That May Affect Future Results
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical facts, but instead represent the current expectations of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NextEra Energy) and Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) regarding future operating results and other future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of NextEra Energy's and FPL's control. In some cases, you can identify the forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as "will," "may result," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "plan," "seek," "potential," "projection," "forecast," "predict," "goals," "target," "outlook," "should," "would" or similar words or expressions. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of future performance. The future results of NextEra Energy and FPL and their business and financial condition are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause their actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, or may require them to limit or eliminate certain operations. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those discussed in this news release and the following: effects of extensive regulation of NextEra Energy's and FPL's business operations; inability of NextEra Energy and FPL to recover in a timely manner any significant amount of costs, a return on certain assets or a reasonable return on invested capital through base rates, cost recovery clauses, other regulatory mechanisms or otherwise; impact of political, regulatory and economic factors on regulatory decisions important to NextEra Energy and FPL; disallowance of cost recovery by FPL based on a finding of imprudent use of derivative instruments; effect of any reductions or modifications to, or elimination of, governmental incentives or policies that support utility scale renewable energy projects of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC and its affiliated entities (NextEra Energy Resources) or the imposition of additional tax laws, policies or assessments on renewable energy; impact of new or revised laws, regulations, interpretations or ballot or regulatory initiatives on NextEra Energy and FPL; capital expenditures, increased operating costs and various liabilities attributable to environmental laws, regulations and other standards applicable to NextEra Energy and FPL; effects on NextEra Energy and FPL of federal or state laws or regulations mandating new or additional limits on the production of greenhouse gas emissions; exposure of NextEra Energy and FPL to significant and increasing compliance costs and substantial monetary penalties and other sanctions as a result of extensive federal regulation of their operations and businesses; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL of changes in tax laws, guidance or policies as well as in judgments and estimates used to determine tax-related asset and liability amounts; impact on NextEra Energy and FPL of adverse results of litigation; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL of failure to proceed with projects under development or inability to complete the construction of (or capital improvements to) electric generation, transmission and distribution facilities, gas infrastructure facilities or other facilities on schedule or within budget; impact on development and operating activities of NextEra Energy and FPL resulting from risks related to project siting, financing, construction, permitting, governmental approvals and the negotiation of project development agreements; risks involved in the operation and maintenance of electric generation, transmission and distribution facilities, gas infrastructure facilities, retail gas distribution system in Florida and other facilities; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL of a lack of growth or slower growth in the number of customers or in customer usage; impact on NextEra Energy and FPL of severe weather and other weather conditions; threats of terrorism and catastrophic events that could result from terrorism, cyberattacks or other attempts to disrupt NextEra Energy's and FPL's business or the businesses of third parties; inability to obtain adequate insurance coverage for protection of NextEra Energy and FPL against significant losses and risk that insurance coverage does not provide protection against all significant losses; a prolonged period of low gas and oil prices could impact NextEra Energy Resources' gas infrastructure business and cause NextEra Energy Resources to delay or cancel certain gas infrastructure projects and could result in certain projects becoming impaired; risk to NextEra Energy Resources of increased operating costs resulting from unfavorable supply costs necessary to provide NextEra Energy Resources' full energy and capacity requirement services; inability or failure by NextEra Energy Resources to manage properly or hedge effectively the commodity risk within its portfolio; effect of reductions in the liquidity of energy markets on NextEra Energy's ability to manage operational risks; effectiveness of NextEra Energy's and FPL's risk management tools associated with their hedging and trading procedures to protect against significant losses, including the effect of unforeseen price variances from historical behavior; impact of unavailability or disruption of power transmission or commodity transportation facilities on sale and delivery of power or natural gas by NextEra Energy, including FPL; exposure of NextEra Energy and FPL to credit and performance risk from customers, hedging counterparties and vendors; failure of NextEra Energy or FPL counterparties to perform under derivative contracts or of requirement for NextEra Energy or FPL to post margin cash collateral under derivative contracts; failure or breach of NextEra Energy's or FPL's information technology systems; risks to NextEra Energy and FPL's retail businesses from compromise of sensitive customer data; losses from volatility in the market values of derivative instruments and limited liquidity in OTC markets; impact of negative publicity; inability of FPL to maintain, negotiate or renegotiate acceptable franchise agreements with municipalities and counties in Florida; occurrence of work strikes or stoppages and increasing personnel costs; NextEra Energy's ability to successfully identify, complete and integrate acquisitions, including the effect of increased competition for acquisitions; environmental, health and financial risks associated with NextEra Energy Resources' and FPL's ownership and operation of nuclear generation facilities; liability of NextEra Energy and FPL for significant retrospective assessments and/or retrospective insurance premiums in the event of an incident at certain nuclear generation facilities; increased operating and capital expenditures and/or reduced revenues at nuclear generation facilities of NextEra Energy or FPL resulting from orders or new regulations of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; inability to operate any of NextEra Energy Resources' or FPL's owned nuclear generation units through the end of their respective operating licenses; effect of disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital markets or actions by third parties in connection with project-specific or other financing arrangements on NextEra Energy's and FPL's ability to fund their liquidity and capital needs and meet their growth objectives; inability of NextEra Energy, FPL and NextEra Energy Capital Holdings, Inc. to maintain their current credit ratings; impairment of NextEra Energy's and FPL's liquidity from inability of credit providers to fund their credit commitments or to maintain their current credit ratings; poor market performance and other economic factors that could affect NextEra Energy's defined benefit pension plan's funded status; poor market performance and other risks to the asset values of NextEra Energy's and FPL's nuclear decommissioning funds; changes in market value and other risks to certain of NextEra Energy's investments; effect of inability of NextEra Energy subsidiaries to pay upstream dividends or repay funds to NextEra Energy or of NextEra Energy's performance under guarantees of subsidiary obligations on NextEra Energy's ability to meet its financial obligations and to pay dividends on its common stock; the fact that the amount and timing of dividends payable on NextEra Energy's common stock, as well as the dividend policy approved by NextEra Energy's board of directors from time to time, and changes to that policy, are within the sole discretion of NextEra Energy's board of directors and, if declared and paid, dividends may be in amounts that are less than might be expected by shareholders; NEP's inability to access sources of capital on commercially reasonable terms could have an effect on its ability to consummate future acquisitions and on the value of NextEra Energy's limited partner interest in NextEra Energy Operating Partners, LP; effects of disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital markets on the market price of NextEra Energy's common stock; and the ultimate severity and duration of public health crises, epidemics and pandemics, including the coronavirus pandemic, and its effects on NextEra Energy's or FPL's businesses. NextEra Energy and FPL discuss these and other risks and uncertainties in their annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and other SEC filings, and this news release should be read in conjunction with such SEC filings. The forward-looking statements made in this news release are made only as of the date of this news release and NextEra Energy and FPL undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.