FPL's '30-by-30' plan reaches key milestone with more than 12 million solar panels generating electricity in the state of Florida

Rhea-AI Summary

Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) has surpassed 40% completion of its ambitious '30-by-30' plan to install 30 million solar panels by 2030, achieving over 12 million installations. The initiative positions Florida as a leader in solar energy, with FPL expecting to save customers around $421 million over the assets' lifetimes. With 42 operational solar energy centers, FPL aims for over 15 million panels by early 2022. Furthermore, the company plans to construct the world's largest integrated solar-powered battery system, further enhancing its renewable energy portfolio.

Positive

• More than 12 million solar panels installed, achieving over 40% of the 30 million target.
• Projected customer savings of approximately $421 million over the panels' lifetime.
• 42 solar energy centers operational in Florida as part of the solar expansion.
• Plans to install 15 million solar panels by early 2022.

Negative

• None.

JUNO BEACH, Fla., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) has achieved a major milestone by surpassing 40% completion of its groundbreaking "30-by-30" plan to install 30 million solar panels by 2030, which is one of the largest solar expansions in the United States. To date, FPL has installed more than 12 million solar panels in Florida, putting the company well on its way to achieving its "30-by-30" plan.

By the end of this month, FPL is on track to have 42 solar energy centers in Florida, including its Discovery Solar Energy Center at Kennedy Space Center, which just became operational, and one more, which is expected to begin powering customers with clean energy in the coming weeks. The solar panels installed across the company's sites are expected to save customers approximately $421 million over the lifetime of the assets, while making Florida third in the nation for solar generation, with a trajectory to be a world leader in solar capacity by the end of the decade.

"Reaching this milestone is an important step in our commitment to increase zero-emissions energy as FPL builds a more resilient and sustainable energy future all of us can depend on, including future generations," said Eric Silagy, president and CEO of FPL. "Despite the pandemic, our team has stayed laser-focused on executing our '30-by-30' plan. Eight new solar energy centers have begun powering customers with clean energy so far this year, and three more are scheduled to come online before the end of this year.

"Nobody in the country is building more solar than FPL," Silagy continued. "We're dedicated to providing our customers with clean, affordable and reliable energy, while keeping bills among the nation's lowest – and our rapid solar expansion helps us consistently deliver on this promise. In total, FPL customers are expected to save approximately $421 million from the cost-effective solar investments the company has made to this point."

By the end of this month, the company will have 42 large-scale solar energy centers installed throughout Florida, with more than 3,000 megawatts (MW) of solar capacity – more than any other utility in the U.S. Nearly every solar energy center that becomes operational in 2021 will also support FPL SolarTogether™ – the company's popular community solar program, which is the nation's largest. FPL expects to achieve another major milestone by early 2022 when it anticipates to have installed more than 15 million panels, which would put the company more than 50% of the way toward completing its "30-by- 30" plan.

By the end of 2030, FPL is planning to have more than 11,700 MW of universal solar capacity. To support its solar buildout, the company recently began installing the first components of the world's largest integrated solar-powered battery system, the 400-MW FPL Manatee Energy Storage Center. Also, later this month, the company will demolish its last coal-fired plant in Florida, with plans to replace it with more clean, emissions-free solar energy power facilities.

"Since FPL first pioneered large-scale solar development in 2009, our industry has seen a transformation of what was once considered niche technology to solar becoming a dominant source of energy," Silagy said. "Solar helps us reliably power our millions of customers, fuels our economy with jobs and benefits our environment."

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), FPL's parent company and the world's largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage, recently released its 2021 Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) report at NextEraEnergy.com/sustainability. The report details the company's clean-energy initiatives and all of its ESG accomplishments and commitments.

Visit www.FPL.com/solar for more information on the company's solar energy expansion. 

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 for the fifth time in the last six years. The company was recognized in 2021 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 over-the-counter 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; NextEra Energy Partners, LP'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 Securities and Exchange Commission (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.

 

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SOURCE Florida Power & Light Company; NextEra Energy, Inc.

FAQ

What is NextEra Energy's stock symbol?

NextEra Energy's stock symbol is NEE.

What milestone has FPL reached in its '30-by-30' solar plan?

FPL has surpassed 40% completion, having installed over 12 million solar panels.

How much will customers save from FPL's solar panel installations?

Customers are expected to save approximately $421 million over the lifetime of the solar assets.

How many solar energy centers does FPL operate in Florida?

FPL operates 42 solar energy centers throughout Florida.

What is the goal of FPL's '30-by-30' plan?

The goal is to install 30 million solar panels by 2030.