Silagy, CEO since 2014, will depart the company in April. Florida Power & Light CEO Eric Silagy announced his retirement on Wednesday. Only about 90,000 Florida customers, about 1 percent of the states more than 8.5 million customers, sell excess energy back to the electrical grid, but the arrangement has driven significant rooftop solar expansion in Florida. Matrix affiliated groups have also worked to advance power companies interests in Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, and in front of the Environmental Protection Agency, public records show. Florida Power & Light CEO Eric Silagy announced his retirement on Wednesday. hide caption. A Democratic state senator was proposing a law that could cut into Florida Power & Lights (FPL) profits. Headquartered in Montgomery, Matrix has been described there as the closest thing Alabama politics has to a non-governmental secret agency. Once we realize the large emitters are large emitters because theyre providing service of great magnitude, and we look at it and we see its so efficient, we have our answer, Patino-Echeverri said. Nate Monroe is a metro columnist whose work regularly appears every Thursday and Sunday. 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. The complaint implicated Florida Power & Light in violations of election law due to alleged attempts to obscure the source of political donations. View dataset here. "We could even do it stealthily so we could inject content into all those publications and nobody has to know who's actually pulling the strings," he wrote. Landlords would be able to sell cheap rooftop solar power directly to their tenants bypassing FPL and its monopoly on electricity. In 2019, when the electric utility industry was up in arms about a constitutional amendment to open up competition in Floridas energy market, a Matrix-linked non-profit poured more than $10m into groups fighting it. 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. Last June, Florida Power & Light spokesperson David Reuter wrote that the initial review had exonerated the company: "This detailed report found no evidence of illegality or wrongdoing on the part of FPL or any of its employees." Letsgetstarted. Four other FPL natural gas plants also made the list, but are still ranked among the most efficient in terms of emissions per megawatt hour of energy produced. Florida Power & Light president and CEO Eric Silagy will retire this spring, the Juno Beach-based utility's parent company NextEra Energy announced ahead of an earnings call with Wall Street analysts on Wednesday. Pairing solar energy centers with battery storage, including the worlds largest battery in Manatee County. You gotta bow down and kiss the ring.. Watchdog exposing the attacks on renewable energy and countering misinformation by fossil fuel interests, DeSantis faces Democrat and Utility Critic, Crist. Documents shared by an anonymous source show Silagy directing his team to make life hell for Florida senator Jos Javier Rodrguez. Rooftop solar in Florida expanded slowly until 2018 when the Florida Public Service Commission allowed electricity customers to lease solar systems with little or no upfront costs. However, those policies are coming under fire as utilities become increasingly concerned about how the growth of distributed solar energy affects their bottom line. small-scale solar capacity in the state. There were a lot of challenges that we successfully managed," he said. The companies that are doing the right thing still have those kinds of plants in their portfolio, specifically coal, but theyre working toward other alternatives, Hope said. "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. And a former regional administrator for the EPA who did business with Pitts pleaded guilty to violating state ethics law multiple times. Higher electricity bills welcomed millions of Florida residents into the new year. Forgive me for being unserious at a time when companies like Florida Power & Light (FPL)the nation's largest utilitykeep racking up scandals, but it's kind of hard to keep track of the. Rick Scott.. While some of the actions taken by FPL tick the boxes to reduce emissions, more can be done, Shober said. Records from the Florida Senate show that Florida Power & Light drafted the bill, and lobbyist John Holley delivered it to Bradley, R-Fleming Island, and Florida Power & Lights parent company followed up with a $10,000 contribution to her political committee. Documents show Matrix operatives arranged for the commissioner to record a robocall in which she called Stoddard a creep. Responding to dark money controversy, NextEra did internal investigation into FPL. You need this large power plant.. [Public records from the Florida Senate], Hillsborough school board talks of delay as key vote nears on boundary plan, Closed New Tampa golf course stirs another round of bickering, Pasco park restaurant plans must wait for study of nearby burial mound, Heres the story behind Parkesdale Markets famous Plant City strawberry shortcakes, McCarthy gives Carlson access to 1/6 footage, raising alarms, Toni Says: Taking Medicare advice from your friends can be costly, Florida schools still struggle with late buses, Florida official unsure if Vertol will still handle migrant relocation program, Murder trial of former FSU receiver Travis Rudolph set to begin Friday, Energetic Dave Canales excited about new Bucs offense, calling plays and QB Kyle Trask. Florida Power & Light, one of the largest utilities in the country, abruptly announced the retirement of its chief executive after a tenure marked by strong financial returns, moves toward greener energy and multiple scandals. To work around the independent, traditional media, former Matrix employees took a more direct route to influence the public narrative about Florida Power & Light. Florida Power & Light CEO Eric Silagy was directly involved in steering funds to dark-money groups led by the consultants who controlled Grow United, the organization used to promote the ghost candidates, according to documents obtained by the Sentinel. In Florida, Matrixs work touched almost every level of politics, from influencing local mayoral and county commission elections to combating attempts to reshape the state constitution. $2.75 million in tax breaks on speculative green hydrogen, tens of billions of dollars for burying lines, 2018 state senate race in Gainesville, FL, secured a deal to freeze FPL rates in 2005 as Attorney General, opposed FPLs $1.3 billion rate increase in 2009, calling the utility out for raising its rates on Floridians, largest donation FPL had ever made at the time, Utility front groups spending on disinformation advertising. local news and culture, Alex DeLuca The utility company also contributes to many Democrats and to the Florida Democratic Party. Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Utility Front Group Advertisement Tracker, American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, Gas utilities push RNG and hydrogen to expand fossil fuel infrastructure, AGA uses millions of dollars from utility customers to promote a fossil fuel agenda, Internal documents detail how gas utilities greenwash RNG and hydrogen, Front groups and trade associations funded by gas utilities fight electrification policies, List of deceptive RNG and hydrogen projects, FirstEnergy CEO Steven Strah emailed about under the radar House Bill 6 provision that cost Ohio ratepayers millions of dollars. 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 has denied the allegations. The tactics worked. Note: This story has been updated to correctly reflect Pimentel's prior roles. Download the FPL Mobile App Now Florida Power & Light is pushing for it as Florida's biggest utility it has 5.5 million customers, about 65 percent of the state. McGrath added that the companys move toward cleaner energy sources is a march, not a sprint.. And additional reporting since last year has made it clear the leakedMatrix records contain legitimate information. It grew by 57 percent in 2020, DeSantis new election crimes office: 52 positions and unprecedented authority. 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 After an early round of reports, NextEra commissioned an internal investigation into the allegations against Silagy and Florida Power & Light in Florida. The Senate District 37 scandal was one of three races in Florida in the 2020 cycle that followed a nearly identical pattern: A close race, an unknown third party candidate to siphon some of the votes, and campaign . Thats not where the story ends, however, or the whole picture. Overall, McGrath said the modernization improvements have made their plants 30% more efficient, saved customers more than $11 billion in fuel and kept 165 million tons of carbon dioxide from being emitted in the atmosphere. 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