FPL's Home Energy Makeover teams help 50 Riviera Beach families save on their bills and educate public about energy efficiency
Feb 23, 2010

RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. – In partnership with the City of Riviera Beach, Florida Power & Light Company delivered Home Energy Makeovers for 50 local families today, installing energy-efficient upgrades to help the environment and save money by reducing energy consumption.

Together, the money-saving, energy-conserving improvements will save these customers as much as 25 percent on their utility bills each year.

“FPL is proud to partner with local communities to help residents learn about energy efficiency and save on their electric bills,” said Tony Newbold, FPL’s regional manager for Northern Palm Beach County. “We’re committed to helping our customers, especially those on limited or fixed incomes, learn about ways to save energy. The upgrades installed by our talented volunteer team today are some of the easiest things that families can do to reduce their monthly expenses.”

Many of the upgrades demonstrated today in Riviera Beach can be adopted by any FPL customers who want to make smarter, cleaner energy choices. Customers who want to reap the benefits of energy-efficiency can learn about the improvements installed in the Home Energy Makeovers today by visiting the Energy Savings Toolkit section at www.FPL.com and taking a free, online Home Energy Survey.

Riviera Beach City Councilwoman Judy L. Davis participated in the morning kick-off and performed several Home Energy Makeovers as part of one of the teams of volunteers and energy experts.

“By inviting groups like FPL into our growing community, we’re giving residents access to tools and information that can save them money and have a positive impact on their daily lives,” Councilwoman Davis said. “This Home Energy Makeover event is one way we are working to make Riviera Beach the best city in which to live, work and play.”

Approximately 50 Home Energy Makeover team members, both FPL energy experts and city employees, volunteered to make energy-efficient upgrades that included:

• Repairing air conditioning ducts
• Checking and installing insulation
• Installing lifetime air conditioning filters
• Installing compact fluorescent lights
• Inserting refrigerator and freezer thermometers
• Installing weather stripping
• Installing water-saving showerheads and faucets

FPL’s Home Energy Makeover initiative leverages the combined power of FPL employee volunteers and partners to tackle 50 homes at a time during each event. Entire neighborhoods benefit from energy efficiency as customers save thousands of dollars on electric costs.

To complete 50 energy makeovers in one day, the teams of volunteers visited the homes of FPL customers who were pre-qualified by the City of Riviera Beach through an application process. The teams spent one to two hours in each home, making the upgrades and educating the residents about other free or low-cost measures they can take to further reduce their energy use. Many of the homeowners who participated today were senior citizens living on fixed incomes.

Since the program’s inception in 2006, FPL has helped more than 450 homes in the counties of St. Lucie, Miami-Dade, Sarasota, Broward, Brevard, Flagler, Lee and Palm Beach learn about energy efficiency and enjoy more energy-efficient homes.

Florida Power & Light Company 
Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) is the largest electric utility in Florida and one of the largest rate-regulated utilities in the United States. FPL serves approximately 4.5 million customer accounts in Florida and is a leading employer in the state with 10,500 employees. The company consistently outperforms national averages for service reliability while customer bills are below the national average. A clean energy leader, FPL has one of the lowest emissions profiles and the No. 1 energy efficiency program among utilities nationwide. FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Fla.-based FPL Group, Inc. (NYSE: FPL). For more information, visitwww.FPL.com.