- FPL to issue customer bill credits during the month of
August totaling approximately $28
million
- Refund equates to about $3
per 1,000 kWh for residential customers; refunds will also be
issued to business customers
JUNO BEACH, Fla., July 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Florida
Public Service Commission (PSC) today unanimously approved a joint
agreement between Florida Power
& Light Company and the state's consumer advocate to resolve
all outstanding issues in the review of restoration costs for
Hurricane Matthew, which impacted nearly the entire eastern
coastline of Florida in 2016.
The agreement between FPL and the Office of Public Counsel
confirms the prudence and reasonableness of the company's
restoration costs while adjusting the accounting treatment for a
portion of the costs in order to reduce the near-term impact to
customers. As a result, FPL will refund approximately $28 million plus interest, which will translate
into a credit of about $3 per 1,000
kWh for residential customers.
"This sensible resolution puts a little more money back in our
customers' pockets," said Eric
Silagy, president and CEO of FPL. "Importantly, it speaks to
the fact that we never lose sight of our responsibility to operate
efficiently while executing an aggressive and rapid response to a
major hurricane to safely restore power to all customers as quickly
as possible."
FPL restored service to nearly 99 percent of the 1.2 million
customers affected by Hurricane Matthew within two days of the
storm exiting the state.
FPL filed documentation with the PSC to support approximately
$316.5 million in recoverable costs
due to Hurricane Matthew. Based on the initial approved rates, FPL
collected from customers approximately $322.4 million between March 1, 2017 and Feb. 28,
2018 through a temporary surcharge. As is customary during
hurricane cost recovery, the $6
million difference was set to flow back to customers through
a routine true-up adjustment. In addition, FPL agreed to adjust the
accounting treatment of $21.7 million
of its restoration costs so customers would receive a total refund
of $27.7 million, plus interest.
Keeping bills among the lowest in the state and
nation
In January, FPL announced that customers would not
pay a surcharge for Hurricane Irma restoration due to federal tax
savings. Hurricane Irma was one of the largest, most powerful
storms to ever hit Florida, and FPL's response was unprecedented
both in scale and the speed of power restoration. However, the
timing of federal tax savings enabled the company to cover Irma's
$1.3 billion restoration bill. The
ability to leverage the federal tax savings in this way was
afforded by FPL's current base rate agreement, which was negotiated
with the Office of Public Counsel and other customer groups and
approved unanimously by the PSC in 2016. The agreement set
parameters for base rates and storm surcharges from 2017 through at
least 2020.
Federal tax savings paved the way for even more FPL customer
savings in July, allowing for a net reduction in customer rates of
approximately 50 cents on a typical
1,000-kWh residential bill. In September, FPL expects to reduce
rates again by 26 cents for a
1,000-kWh residential customer bill. This decrease is the result of
a routine decrease in the storm charge and savings from the
transfer of the Martin-Riviera Lateral Pipeline to Florida
Southeast Connection, LLC.
While the prices of almost all products and services have risen
in recent years, FPL's typical 1,000-kWh residential customer bill
has remained very low. In fact, FPL's typical bill is lower today
than it was more than 10 years ago. Also, FPL's typical bill is
approximately 30 percent lower than the national average.
Florida Power & Light
Company
Florida Power &
Light Company is the third-largest electric utility in the United States, serving nearly 5 million
customer accounts or an estimated 10 million+ people across nearly
half of the state of Florida. FPL's typical 1,000-kWh residential
customer bill is approximately 30 percent lower than the latest
national average and among the lowest in the U.S. FPL's service
reliability is better than 99.98 percent, and its highly
fuel-efficient power plant fleet is one of the cleanest among all
utilities nationwide. The company was recognized in 2017 as one of
the most trusted U.S. electric utilities by Market Strategies
International for the fourth consecutive year. A leading Florida
employer with approximately 8,700 employees, 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 2018 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. 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.
Forward-looking statements in this news release include, among
others, statements concerning adjusted earnings per share
expectations and future operating performance, and statements
concerning future dividends. 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, 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 other 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 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, cyber attacks 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 for certain existing
projects to be 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 FPL and NextEra Energy Resources; 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 OTC markets; impact
of negative publicity; inability of NextEra Energy and 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 result in 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 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; NEP'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; and effects of disruptions, uncertainty or volatility
in the credit and capital markets on the market price of NextEra
Energy's common stock. 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, 2017
and other SEC filings, and this news release should be read in
conjunction with such SEC filings made through the date of this
news release. 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