FPL has said it was not fully aware of what its consultant was doing, and it has cast doubt on some of the reporting. 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 political and campaign-finance scandals. We know about FPLs actions thanks to reporting by the Orlando Sentinel, Miami Herald and The Florida Times-Union, some of it in partnership with the nonprofit Floodlight. 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. 10 Takeaways from the IEA's Newest World Energy Outlook. Clarification: This story was updated on January 27, 2022, to reflect that the Jacksonville job was arranged by consultants for FPL, not directly by the company. The other candidate later revealed that he had been bribed to run. 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. In 2017, Perry voted in support of NextEras exploratory fracking legislation while serving on the Communications, Energy and Public Utilities Committee chaired by Artiles. It depends on how trustworthy community members find NextEra in the coming months and how that support affects any proposed clean energy legislation. This effort takes a lot of resources to gather and update. The races for Senate District 9 and 39 followed the same pattern. The settlement is the end result of a . Sign up for our newsletter: Get Capitol Buzz, a special bonus edition of The Buzz with Emily L. Mahoney, each Saturday while the Legislature is meeting. This story was originally published January 27, 2022, 6:00 AM. So, thats probably all that were going to say on that today.. It begs the question of who the PSC serves is it Floridians or is it utility companies?. 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 mailers attacking the Democratic candidate, all paid for by new, out-of-state political committees. 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. Some critics of Florida Power & Light, like Alissa Jean Schafer of watchdog group Energy Policy Institute, have welcomed Pimentel's uneventful background. Operator: Good morning, and welcome to the NextEra Energy and NextEra Energy Partners Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Call. Republican Ileana Garcia won the election by 32 votes. Entergy, which donated $10,000 to the Party and [], [] has not shied away from shady political dealings in the past. About Nextera Energy As one of America's largest capital investors in infrastructure, with between $50 and $55 billion in new infrastructure investments planned through 2022, we're helping ensure that the next energy to power our dreams will be American energy. Alissa Jean Schafer is a research and communications specialist at the Energy and Policy Institute. Sources report that the current NextEra investigation may be part of a wider probe into ethicalcomplaints against Simpson, the Senate President, including allegations that campaign moneywas spent to cover the fact that he fathered a child out of wedlock with a lobbyist for the Publixsupermarket chain. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License by Energy and Policy Institute. FPLs response as well as the statements provided for the docket by the staff involved in the rate case audit, leave many questions and concerns for our constituents and Floridians at large, the legislators wrote. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. This is not the first cycle that a well-funded third party candidate has upset a campaign by a close margin, and its not the first where those candidates have had at least some connection to Artiles and Florida utilities. According to reporting from the Orlando Sentinel, a broad criminal investigation is underway in Miami, with felony charges against former Senator Frank Artiles, and the spoiler candidate in District 37 has pled guilty. Id. Eskamani of Orlando said Baezs response left her unsatisfied. Enforcement for funneling money through a partisan political committee to a ghost candidatescheme that has already resulted in felony charges against five political operatives. Their power over utilities in Florida was challenged by legislation proposed by the Democratic Senator of Florida, Jos Javier Rodrguez, in 2019. On Wednesday, FPL spokesperson Chris McGrath denied that FPL was involved in the ghost candidate scheme. Though this bill had massive potential to make clean energy more accessible for everyday people, FPL realized their profits would be cut if it were passed. 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. The Miami Herald and others reported claims that company executives worked with a consultant to derail certain state senate candidates and surveil a journalist who wrote critically about the regulated utility. Goston claimed he did not know or care where the money supporting his candidacy came from, according to the Gainesville Sun. Gostons campaign was largely funded by Republicans with ties to Perry, as reported by the Gainesville Sun. 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. That scheme included over half a million dollars spent on political mailers promoting the spoiler candidates. Since then, theyve become skilled at creating and maintaining wind farms, and today their power reaches far beyond Florida. Rodriguez has pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. 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. NextEra Energy (NE) is currently under investigation by the Florida Department of Law Derek Robins June 26, 2022 Business Enforcement for funneling money through a partisan political committee to a "ghost candidate" scheme that has already resulted in felony charges against five political operatives. 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 NextEras crown jewel utility, analysts say: stay out of the headlines. John Ketchum, a 19-year veteran of NextEra Energy, is named president and chief executive officer (CEO), NextEra Energy.He will report directly to the NextEra Energy, Inc. Board of Directors. Canopy was started by former Matrix employees, led by Jeff Pitts. Artiles faces multiple felony charges in connection to an alleged election scheme that successfully ousted Senator Jose Javier Rodriguez, a long-time climate advocate. as reported by the Energy and Policy Institute. At NextEra Energy, we're committed to our core values of being committed to excellence, doing the right thing and treating people with respect. Political editor Emily L. Mahoney will send you a rundown on local, state and national politics coverage every Thursday. To help figure this out, I reached out to David Pomerantz, who makes a living investigating utility companies as executive director of the Energy and Policy Institute, a nonprofit watchdog organization. FPLs response as well as the statements provided for the docket by the staff involved in the rate case audit, leave many questions and concerns for our constituents and Floridians at large, the legislators wrote. In 2017, Artiles ended up in the headlines again over his ceremonial role at a NASCAR event sponsored by NextEra, where he waved the starting flag in a NextEra branded jacket, pictures of which he posted on his Facebook page. Community Solar Is About to Get a Surge in Federal Funding. Watch the Florida Legislature live: The Florida Channel, a public affairs programming service funded by the Legislature, livestreams coverage at thefloridachannel.org. 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 fourth-quarter earnings call with financial analysts, Robo announced he will be retiring from his position on March 1, PSC Executive Director Braulio Baez responded, Support my work with a digital subscription, Exclusive: Last grass lot on Miamis Brickell Avenue sells for $6 million. Broken Promises is one of only two groups that has contributed money to a Florida political committee called Consumers for Energy Fairness. The investigation around Artiles and the Senate District 37 race is ongoing. I also saw how opponents of renewable energy development rarely miss an opportunity to sow distrust in the developer, with talk of how wind or solar would be an eyesore and potentially harm property values. A former NextEra colleague of Pimentel's, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Pimentel was a "straightforward, fact-based and driven" coworker with a calm temperament. In one case, one of those three committees got $115,000 from an Associated Industries-controlled group and immediately paid $104,909 to Alvarado Strategies, the Sentinel reported. They may have to wait until prosecutors investigate for answers, but Artiles history and ties to Florida utilities may provide some clues. NextEra Energy owns Florida Power & Light Company, which is America's largest electric utility that sells more power than any other utility, providing clean, affordable, reliable electricity to approximately 5.8 million customer accounts, or more than 12 million . If you liked this article, please donate $5 to keep NationofChange online through November. They probably chose him to be a steady the ship-type figure, said Jack Dearing, an analyst withWashington-based Capstone LLC, which advises investors and companies on policy issues. His political committee, Veterans for Conservative Principles, received nearly $13,000 from NextEra and $5,000 from Duke. Definition & Eligibility, Norwegian Plans Pricing Move That Royal Caribbean, Carnival Might Follow. 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. ESI Energy LLC, Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Nextera Energy Resources LLC, Is Sentenced After Pleading Guilty to Killing and Wounding Eagles in Its Wind Energy Operations, in Violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act | USAO-EDCA | Department of Justice Share Department of Justice U.S. Attorney's Office Eastern District of California See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. In 2018, state Sen. Keith Perry won re-election against Democrat Kayser Enneking by about 2,000 votes, due in large part to a third-party former Democrat candidate likely pulling votes away from Enneking. The Miami Herald has confirmed that NextEra has been conducting an internal investigationon FPLs involvement in the ghost candidate scheme. He started by questioning my premise that NextEra has a good reputation while its subsidiary, FPL, has taken some serious hits. as reported by Miami Herald last December. Want more of our free, weekly newslettersinyourinbox? Alvarados firm, Alvarado Strategies, was paid by three political committees with connections to Associated Industries of Florida (AIF), a corporate interest group with strong utility ties. On Tuesday, it became clear that Wall Street had noticed the stories. 11/30/2021. The third-party candidate in that race, Charles Goston, earned about 4,300 votes as an independent, despite being a lifelong Democrat. Recent revelations about Florida Power & Lights involvement in a dark money scheme to siphon votes away from Senate Democratic candidates prompted its parent company to conduct an internal investigation, NextEra announced at an earnings call on Tuesday. Who will build the $6 billion road and bridge projects underway in Tampa Bay? It was also announced that Silagy, the president and CEO of FPL, will take on the added responsibility of chairman of FPL. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. This is a very good deal for the climate.. A former NextEra colleague of Pimentel's, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Pimentel was a "straightforward, fact-based and driven" coworker with a calm temperament. So, thats probably all that were going to say on that today.. Despite its position as a renewable energy generator, the company has been shrouded in controversy - the most recent of which has to do with Florida Power & Light (FPL), one of the companies operating beneath them. Dont miss a beat. When McClure first introduced the concept of changing Floridas net metering policy in 2019, he had already taken over $20,000 from investor-owned utilities. The reports show that Florida Power & Light hired a political consulting firm that engaged in dirty tricks to harm or otherwise neutralize the companys perceived opponents, including elected officials and journalists. 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 . NextEra was a traditional utility company when it was started in 1925. Clarification: This story was updated on Jan. 27, 2022, to reflect that the Jacksonville job was arranged by consultants for FPL, not directly by the company. Artiles has been connected to Florida utilities, including NextEra and its subsidiary Florida Power and Light (FPL), for years. I wonder if NextEras problems in Florida may eventually affect the perception of the company in other places. The most comprehensive solution to manage all your complex and ever-expanding tax and compliance needs. 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