For many years and without my knowledge or approval, Pitts abused his power and position to benefit himself and his cronies, Perkins said in a statement. Namely,how "clean" can, or should, an energy system be to make inroads in tacklingclimate change as the urgency heightens? Meanwhile, groups aligned with the utility falsely tied Dunn to the Obama administrations efforts to reduce the use of coal. The bill also allows utilities to charge rooftop solar customers more, by adding in facility charges, grid access fees and minimum monthly payments. Earlier this year, current PSC members, appointed by Gov. Silagy is to be replaced by Armando Pimentel, a former senior executive at NextEra Energy. ", FPL lauds its reliability and maintains it has the lowest electricity rates in the country. He argued that customers with rooftop solar are being subsidized by other customers who continue to buy electricity and pay to maintain the power grid. You always have to keep in mind what matters most is the rate (of efficiency).. Bradley said she is open to discussing alternative models for her bill, including a system in use in the Carolinas to compensate rooftop solar customers who provide extra power for the grid when it is most needed, during peak hours. Its also up to us to push them more. The ongoing clash between Matrixs founder Joe Perkins, 72, and former CEO Jeff Pitts, 51, is exposing the firms decades of extensive influence peddling on behalf of utility clients. FPL deployed lobbyists to the capital, while Matrix hired private investigators to dig for dirt and had operatives funnel dark money and order attack ads. In California, regulators plan to increase fees on rooftop solar customers. nears the finish line on new track at Freedom Field, Amazon's Daisy Jones & the Six Is the Latest in a Long Line of Embarrassing Portraits of Musical Genius. That month, FPL announced a planned purchase ofGulf Power, expanding its reach for the first time into the Florida Panhandle, and in the process snatching away a lucrative asset from regional rival Southern Company, which had owned Gulf since 1925. Its CEO, Mark Crosswhite, stepped down in December. But wherever the pair went, indictments often followed. Meanwhile, Matrix-led non-profits funded a blizzard of ads against Stoddard, accusing him of using public money for vendettas and placing him alongside infamous sex offenders Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein. Matrix also exerted political influence through the press, with its operatives acquiring control of a Tallahassee-based politics news site, The Capitolist. We are consistently one of the cleanest electric utilities in the country, FPL spokesman Chris McGrath said. There are reasons to prefer alternatives that are not fossil-fuel intensive. Reported contribution totals over $100k as of September 7, 2022, from the Florida Division of Elections Campaign Finance Database. Another factor is promoting energy efficiency at the consumer level, Shober said. Before the prospect of JEA had even been formally proposed, Matrix employees were planting seeds intended to underminepublic confidence in the Jacksonville agency, potentially as early as 2017. The ghostcandidate controversy set off a wide-ranging criminal investigation by prosecutors in Miami, whosecured a guilty pleafrom the independent candidate in District 37 andfiled felony charges against Frank Artiles, a former Republican lawmaker accused of bribing the candidate to run. Theres no time and its urgent, she said. Higher electricity bills welcomed millions of Florida residents into the new year. The commission held a workshop, which drew 16,000 messages from solar advocates urging it to leave the net metering program alone. Pitts at the time forwarded a draft of the script to two FPL executives. McClure conceded the bill is not baked.. It grew by 57 percent in 2020, DeSantis new election crimes office: 52 positions and unprecedented authority. Under the scheme, a candidate with no political background was on the ballot as a no-party option in an effort to confuse voters and dilute support for the Democrat in the race, helping Republicans maintain their majority in the state Senate. Terry Dunn wanted to examine why Alabama Power charged some of the highest rates in the country. Moving Florida toward a brighter energy future. NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik reported this story with Mario Ariza of Floodlight, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates the powerful interests stalling climate action. Pimentel will rejoin the company on Feb. 15 and work with Silagy until his departure. Florida Power & Light argues that arrangement is unfair to customers who dont generate their own power but continue to pay for the costs of maintaining the grid that rooftop solar customers also use. (Neither Alabama Power nor its corporate parent, Southern Company, have commented on those disclosures.). A note of gratitude to our friends at the Orlando Sentinel and Floodlight News, with whom we have worked in partnership to report our stories. At least its not coal., The intent of the report was to highlight coal and the negative of coal and offer information that may be pertinent to those who live near the plants, Hope said. FPL consultants also used Broken Promises to boost a spoiler candidate in a 2018 state senate race in Gainesville, FL, according to previous reporting from Miami Herald. Two decades ago, the company was using more than40 million barrels of oil, the most of any electric utility, McGrath said. The governors office also comes with a bully pulpit and executive order authority, both of which DeSantis has used frequently, pushing his anti-woke platform on everything from school curriculum to state pensions, unilaterally suspending elected officials, and creating his own election police agency. But DeSantis election police agency has remained silent on FPLs connection to election scandals, criminal trials, and ongoing investigations, instead focusing on the arrest of 20 individuals who may have registered to vote while ineligible, despite allegedly being told that they were eligible to vote, and the states issuance of voter IDs. Those who provoked the utilitys ire suffered a harsh response. Its unfortunate that our process allows for something like this to exist without accountability.. The Governor appoints members to the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC), the regulatory body responsible for overseeing utilities and determining their profitability, making influence over the Governors office critical to NextEras shareholders. Florida Power & Light is pushing for it as Florida's biggest utility it has 5.5 million customers, about 65 percent of the state. Yet he acknowledged that the reports may have had an influence on the decision. In 2013, Terry Dunn, a Republican electricity regulator at Alabamas Public Service Commission made moves to hold formal hearings on how customers energy bills were calculated something that hadnt happened in three decades. Our programs are designed to make paying your bill simple and manageable. Im hopeful this is a conversation starter but, at the same time, its really hard to have a conversation when you have a gun to your head. The largest city served by the supplier is Jacksonville, but the company also provides electricity to 243 cities in Florida. The proposed legislation could seriously curtail that growth. Duke has 2 million customers, followed by TECO with 800,000 and then many other smaller utilities. The complaint implicated Florida Power & Light in violations of election law due to alleged attempts to obscure the source of political donations. Perkins claims he only became aware of this work after he encountered what appeared to be a damaged hard drive in Pitts' former office and hired an IT team to extract the remains. Its a tough, and expensive, goal to achieve, Patino-Echeverri said. Under the leadership of Eric Silagy, 54, the company has been tied to allegations of campaign finance violations, media manipulation, and the surveillance of critical journalists. However, those policies are coming under fire as utilities become. Southern Company and Alabama Power run the state of Alabama, Dunn said. It backed a failed ballot amendment in 2016 that would have allowed regulators to impose fees and barriers to rooftop solar installation. "I think it took a toll," Ketchum said Wednesday of the multiple crises. All of that work was a closely held secret until recently. We took a 1960s-gas guzzling Cadillac and we replaced it with a Ford Focus hybrid, McGrath said. And Burgess himself seemed to recognize it was an unlikely proposal, lamenting that "they are such douchebag newspaper people they added the poison pill to prevent ahostil [sic] takeover, even if it costs them hundreds of millions in stock value" (it's not clear in his email what the alleged"poison pill" is supposed to have been). The media reports were cited in an October 2022 Federal Election Commission complaint against several of the "dark money" non-profit organizations that received corporate funds. Pitts, who left Matrix in December 2020 to start his own firm, Canopy Partners, did not respond to a request for comment by deadline. The warm light races across a 600-mile expanse of land and coast before finally brightening the Perdido River in Escambia County on Florida's western border. In May 2018, FPL's sprawling utility empire laid claim to both boundaries,reaching a pinnacle of power and influence rare even among the mega-corporations that call Florida home. The warm light racesacross a 600-mile expanse of land and coast before finally brightening the Perdido River in Escambia County on Florida's western border. The tactics worked. Yet great amounts of power come at a price. FPL has echoed Pitts' allegations and called into question the veracity of some of the leaked records, although it has repeatedly refused to provide evidence the documents have been altered in any way. An organization that acts like a mafia should be treated like one, Stoddard said.In a statement, Newman acknowledged managing the campaign against Stoddard and hiring a private investigator to look into the former mayors personal life. The company bought an independently owned coal-powered plant in Indiantown in 2016 with the intent to close it, which occurred last summer. Florida Power & Light customers who paid $101.70 last year for a typical monthly bill of 1,000 . Duke has 2 million customers, followed by TECO with 800,000 . "JEA is broken," the group boasted on its website, where it posted Times-Union coverage of the utility's involvement in an over-budget, behind-schedule nuclear project in Georgia. He added that the net metering law has not been updated in 13 years and now is time to discuss it. "We contributeto organizations where we're aligned on what the ultimate goal is, and from the standpoint of having the Senate at the time, who was being led by (Senate President) Wilton Simpson, continue to be able to be led by Wilton Simpson,I was a fan of that," FPL CEO Eric Silagy, recently told me and several other journalists with the Times-Union, Orlando Sentinel and Floodlight in a wide-ranging interview in Jacksonville. 'Off-the-books political strategy':FPL consultants secretly took command, control of Florida news website, reports say, Nate Monroe:Surveillance records at the heart of a tangled mess between FPL and a former consultant. local news and culture, Alex DeLuca I am concerned that it will result in significant costs here, but I also dont want to destroy the rooftop solar industry in Florida.. He is also suing Perkins, alleging defamation and extortion. FPLs CEO Silagy in a recent interview denied knowing about or participating in the scheme against Rodrguez but said that Matrix had done good work for his company. He was previously the chief financial officer for NextEra Energy and FPL and led NextEra Energy Resources, the parent company's renewable resources arm, for eight years. independent local journalism in Miami. Within minutes, one of them forwarded the directive to the CEO of Matrix, LLC, a powerful but little-known political consulting firm that has operated behind the scenes in at least eight states. The bill is just one front in a decade-long battle against the policy. A state board recently rebuffed a request from several Democratic lawmakers for an audit of Florida Power & Light's finances, which the representatives sought following reports linking the. Emails show that Bradleys staff followed up with Florida Power & Light after that discussion. Pitts in turn has accused Perkins of defamation and of leaking confidential records to the media. Soon, Dunn faced attacks in the rightwing press and online, while Matrix-affiliated groups some of which received millions from a non-profit run by a contractor for Alabama Power filed a motion to intervene in the proceedings. Months after he was elected, Beeker voted in favor of an energy price hike for consumers. These email records were provided to the Times/Herald and Floodlight by the Energy & Policy Institute, a watchdog organization that works to counter misinformation about renewable energy. Hannah Morse covers consumer issues for The Palm Beach Post. Alabama Power still hasnt had a rate case. Perkins and Pitts sued each other, with Pitts claiming his former mentor had never followed through on handing over the company despite years of discussions. After more than a decade leading Florida Power & Light (FPL), the state's largest power company, Eric Silagy is retiring. Perkins has repeatedly denied leaking records, though he has verified the authenticity of numerous records underlying recent stories by the Times-Union, Orlando Sentinel and Floodlight, a nonprofit investigative news outlet. While the transition to natural gas has reduced emissions that would otherwise come from oil or gas, and installing utility-scale solar is an important step, getting to zero emissions takes a lot more than that, she said. Florida Power & Light has pushed back against efforts to bring solar panels to the Sunshine State, while runoff from the sugar industry is a major source of water pollution 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 . It ranks third among states for installed solar capacity, although much of that is large-scale, utility-owned solar. DeSantis, who is attempting to build a populist profile ahead of a presidential run in 2024,has turned on FPL, having used his veto pen earlier this year to kill one of the utility's highest legislative priorities a controversial bill that would have limited the growth of the residential rooftop solar industryin Florida. FPL argued that it is more cost-effective to build a power plant than to invest in energy-efficiency programs because building codes and energy-efficiency standards in consumer products have improved. The West County Energy Center, first serving Florida Power & Light customers in 2009 before reaching its current capacity two years later, is a natural gas-burning plant. Still,plants with high emissions are going to draw attention in the overall effort to cut down ongreenhouse gas, experts say. Former FPL senior executive Armando Pimentel was named as Silagy's replacement. 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. Silagy, CEO since 2014, will depart the company in April. A Birmingham mayor who employed Matrix got 15 years for bribery, conspiracy and fraud. Please provide us with the Personal Identification Number (PIN) that you were given for a co-browse session with our representative. Nate Monroe is a metro columnist whose work regularly appears every Thursday and Sunday. There was no question the company would be the leading bidder almost by default. Artiles has been connected to Florida utilities, including NextEra and its subsidiary Florida Power and Light (FPL), for years. He added thatcarbon dioxide is emitted from burning natural gas, which isa fossil fuel, andis being created whether theyre scrubbing or storing it.. Bob Self/Florida Times-Union. Matrix was never accused of wrongdoing. Ketchum also reiterated that when he was named to the NextEra CEO role after Jim Robo stepped down, Silagy had committed to Ketchum that he would lead FPL for at least one more year. Download the FPL Mobile App Now "When you think about all the challenges that he had to overcome, with the hurricanes and high natural gas prices and inflation and supply chain and, you know, the media allegations and all those things, I think it took a toll on Eric that year," Ketchum said during a question-and-answer session on the call. Perkins and Pitts worked together for more than 25 years, expanding the firm into a national operation with dozens of clients in myriad industries. FPL has acknowledged it received the idea but insists the company immediately rejected it. Jeff Weiner for the Orlando Sentinel contributed reporting, A moral imperative: how southern ministers are trying to change minds about the climate crisis, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. We are committed to being as clean as we can as fast as we can without sacrificing reliability or affordability, McGrath said. I just wanted to check in and see if you had any follow up information or language in regards to the net metering bill you discussed with Senator Bradley., Holley replied eight minutes later: I do. Even some environmental advocates say the change is fair and necessary because of the fast rate of rooftop solar development in that state. The charity was a front established by a state representative. You gotta bow down and kiss the ring.. Ricardo Rossello,. One person affiliated with Grow United is Abbie MacIver, who formerly worked for Energy Fairness, a group that encourages policymakers to consider the cost of energy choices, as well as their benefits. Last year, McClure sent a letter to state regulators at the Florida Public Service Commission citing the result and urging it to update its net-metering rule. Inat least one case, they had this Times-Union columnist surveilled, according to the secret records. But Dennis, in an interview last year, recalled receiving a job offer with remarkable similarities to the one outlined in the internal Matrix documents. "We're not making a connection" between the reports and Silagy's retirement, NextEra CEO John Ketchum said on the earnings call. The effort to privatize Jacksonville's utility imploded in scandal and recrimination, prompting a two-year federal investigation that resulted in criminal charges against JEA's former CEO and CFO. Thats a trend nationwide, as power company profits are threatened by the rise of distributed renewable energy a technology which scientists say is essential to limiting the pollution that causes the climate crisis. COMMENTARY | Just a 14-minute drive from Florida Power & Light'sheadquarters in Juno Beach is the easternmost point in the state, where the sun's radiant light first cracks the night skyeach morning. While the West County Energy Center ranked 29th on this list for emitting more than 7.3 billion kilograms of carbon dioxide in 2020, equivalent to emissions from nearly 1.6 million passenger cars, FPL is also correct when it says the facilityis among the most efficient power plants in the country. Over the course of DeSantis tenure, he used that veto power once to block an anti-rooftop solar bill written by FPL. About a decade ago, FPL made the fateful decision to hire Matrix LLC, an Alabama-based political consulting firm notorious in its home state but with little public profile in Florida. And then apparently, somewhere along the way, Jeff and Joe got sideways, Silagy said. He says he told them that he was disappointed, but there was enough work for both of them, based on the good work they had done. 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. And FPL is taking other public-relations hits that make the once-unstoppable company suddenly look more exposed:Earlier this month, for example,FPL uncharacteristically backed off a winter-hardeningproposal that critics alleged could have led to costly customer charges. The company is making renewable energy investments, including: Patino-Echeverri said the utility industry as a whole is making strides to make its plants more efficient. We understand this may mean youll continue your campaign to smear FPL or our employees, FPL spokesperson David Reuter told us in the last communication between the company and our reporting team. Artiles pleaded not guilty. Miami's independent source of In the Northeast corner of the state, a young, first-termRepublican mayor in Jacksonville was eager to solicit proposals to privatize city services none more enticing than the city's century-old municipal utility, JEA, one of the largest public electric, water and sewer utilities in the United States and a prize FPL had long sought. The funds supported a total of five spoiler candidates in state senate and county commission races in 2018 and 2020, as well as efforts to foil a ballot initiative that would have deregulated Florida's energy market. A dark money group associated with Matrix LLC mailed attack ads against South Miami mayor Philip Stoddard to area residents. Get the FPL Mobile App. So they opted instead for Mayor Stoddards electoral defeat and changing the makeup of the board, according to a 2018 memo from Dan Newman, a Matrix contractor who was similarly involved in the campaign against Rodrguez. He is suing Pitts in Alabama for fraud and conspiracy. They dont make money off of the solar power generated from rooftops. Florida Power & Light is pushing for it as Floridas biggest utility it has 5.5 million customers, about 65 percent of the state. We need to have the debate, he said. The negative is the immense amount of megawatts, but its a need for the community. Bradley filed the bill in November. If this bill passes as it is, it has the potential to send Florida back to 2013, as if the advances of the last 10 years didnt happen, Vandenbroeck said. Legislators pass legislation, she said. Alissa Jean Schafer is a research and communications specialist at the Energy and Policy Institute. Responding to dark money controversy, NextEra did internal investigation into FPL. Records obtained by the Sentinel also show overlap between Grow United and previous campaigns to overhaul net metering. The company says the move was not prompted by recent scandals. The CEO of the biggest power company in the US had a problem. These customers are a mix of 88.48% residential customer accounts, 11.29% commercial customers and 0.22% industrial properties. Investigative reporters have directly connected senior FPL executives, including CEO Eric Silagy, to consultants involved in the dark money campaign schemes. ABC News cut ties with the producer immediately following that report. Katie Chiles Ottenweller, Southeast director for Vote Solar, an Atlanta-based advocacy organization, is optimistic but wary given Florida Power & Lights clout in the Florida Legislature and its role in drafting the bill. Skeptics of that plan notably included the Office of Public Counsel, thewatchdog group that represents consumers before the Public Service Commission butwas thought to have been more friendly to utility interests after the installation of a longtime industry lobbyist in 2021. All rights reserved. That gave Matrix consultants and FPL executives input on Capitolist stories. The sites publisher, Brian Burgess, a former top spokesperson for past Florida governor Rick Scott, also suggested in emails that Matrix should lure prominent Florida journalists to a new site or buy local papers owned by media giant Gannett Company and then lay off most of the clown reporters to inject content into publications without anyone knowing who was pulling the strings. NPR and Floodlight reported the same consulting firm did work in Alabama for that state's dominant energy utility, Alabama Power, and funneled money to news sites there that reported negatively on the utility's critics and regulators. Discover Your Options Lights out? Dunn lost his 2014 re-election campaign by a 19-point margin to Chip Beeker, a catfish farmer who is still in office. Just as well, such a reliance on natural gas leaves consumers susceptible to the volatility of gas prices. An Alabama governor the company worked for was convicted of federal felony corruption charges. Also, after reports that an outside FPL consultant had tailed a Florida Times-Union journalist who reported critically on the utility, Silagy sat down with reporters to deny that FPL had ever directed anyone to monitor him. "The way I look at it is it's a little earlier than I would have hoped Eric would have wanted to do it.". Otherwise, DeSantis has been largely friendly to NextEra and FPLs legislative priorities, granting the utility $2.75 million in tax breaks on speculative green hydrogen, signing legislation that gave FPL permission to charge customers tens of billions of dollars for burying lines, signing legislation preventing gas bans that would have aided Florida City Gas, and also signing legislation that forced the resignation of utility critic JR Kelly from his leadership of the Office of Public Counsel, which represents ratepayers in rate cases. At the same time, getting to 100% elimination of greenhouse gas emissions for the energy sector is very hard to do with just renewables. Matrix employees spent heavily on political advertisements for a candidate with the same last name as Rodrguez, who split the vote. Knowing this may inspire consumers to seek out energy-efficient solutions in their own homes like LED lighting, efficient air conditioners or improving insulation and be more aware of the electricity they use, how they use it and perhaps use less. 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. FPL is currently modernizing its plant in Dania Beach, expecting the new gas plant to come online this year, but doesnt anticipate building a new natural gas-powered plant in its 10-year outlook. Developing a green hydrogen plant on the site of the former Indiantown coal plant. From a public perception, maybe there is value in highlighting where our emissions come from, Patino-Echeverri said. Crist has also criticized FPL on the campaign trail, calling the utility out for raising its rates on Floridians and criticizing FPL for attempting to block clean energy with anti-solar legislation. Switching from oil or coal to natural gas is a very important step, but thats not enough, she said, adding that carbon capture, utilization and storage technology must be considerationsto further reduce emissions. Taken together, the internal Matrix records depict a group of well-resourced executives and their enablers who have nurtured twisted views of theFirst Amendment and American democracy, and who have little hesitation over going to remarkable and troubling lengths to achieve their goals. The non-profit, called Broken Promises, first donated the funds to a political committee called Consumers for Energy Fairness. So far, there have been two criminal investigations into the campaign against Rodrguez and another Democratic state senate candidate, leading to charges against five people, though authorities have not accused Matrix or FPL of wrongdoing. Here is why and how much, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. [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. This is a tired tactic that utilities have used to maintain their monopoly grip on electricity markets, said Will Giese, southeast regional director for the Solar Energy Industries Association. President and CEO of Florida Power & Light Eric Silagy speaks to the media after FPL imploded its last Florida . Can I bring it to you all later today? he wrote. hide caption. She said the support she got from other teams was 'overwhelming. Political editor Emily L. Mahoney will send you a rundown on local, state and national politics coverage every Thursday. "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. FPL did not respond to requests for comment by deadline. According to reporting by the Orlando Sentinel, Florida Power & Light executives have been tied to a series of dark-money nonprofits, one of which figures prominently in the Miami-Dade state attorneys investigation into a scandal involving a ghost Senate candidate. Im not afraid if the conclusion is its not the time to do this. 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And Light ( FPL ), for years that you were given for candidate... Floridas biggest utility it has 5.5 million customers, followed by TECO with and! The use of coal Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy can without sacrificing reliability or,. With Matrix LLC mailed attack ads against South Miami mayor Philip Stoddard area! She got from other teams was 'overwhelming insists the company bought an owned. Kiss the ring.. Ricardo Rossello, first donated the funds to a committee... Of the multiple crises 0.22 % industrial properties company also provides electricity to 243 in... To dark money campaign schemes hannah Morse covers consumer issues for the community of oil, the Capitolist respond requests. Bow down and kiss the ring.. Ricardo Rossello,, Mark Crosswhite, stepped down in.. The support she got from other teams was 'overwhelming Finance Database, Shober said to.
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