The money was allegedly funneled through a network of tax-exempt nonprofits that obscured its origin. Its CEO, Mark Crosswhite, stepped down in December. Miami's independent source of 11:52AM. influencing local mayoral and county commission elections, a Miami Herald story about the allegation, graphic showing acquisition flow of The Capitolist, Graphic showing number of stops taken by Matrix private planes. 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. The company provided The Palm Beach Post with 2019 data on emissions and energy production at power plants, including its own, which was in line with the source of the 2020 data used by Find Energy. So Florida Power & Light did something about it. 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. The job was to be with a shell nonprofit created by Matrix employees that supported marijuana decriminalization and, on its face, had no connection to FPL. While the report contemplates the impact of fracking and transporting natural gas, it is not quantified. The last year of Silagy's leadership was marked by high natural gas prices; the global supply chain crisis; two disastrous hurricanes; and a barrage of damning media reports. 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. As you may know, Gera is NextEra Energys Vice President and Chief Litigation Officer. She also was a corporate operative. In one instance, leaked emails revealed Silagy even successfully suggested specific news coverage to one publication. Howard Crystal, an attorney for the environmental group Center for Biological Diversity, said that US utilities are allowed monopoly power because they are supposed to expand the public interest. And an additional kudos to the Miami Herald for its own story on the latest batch of leaked Matrix records, which can be read here. Feds Plan to Seize Russian Oligarch's Luxe Fisher Island Properties, Miami Canal Flooded With Turd Water From Contractor-Involved Pipe Break, Collapse of "Let's Go Brandon" Meme Coin Sparks Billion-Dollar Court Battle, Gator Gets in on the Action at Tampa Bay Horse Race, Readers Warn of Traffic, "Bloodsport" Driving After. Earlier this year, current PSC members, appointed by Gov. There were a lot of challenges that we successfully managed," he said. The complaint implicated Florida Power & Light in violations of election law due to alleged attempts to obscure the source of political donations. Please provide us with the Personal Identification Number (PIN) that you were given for a co-browse session with our representative. 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. Florida Power & Light is pushing for it as Florida's biggest utility it has 5.5 million customers, about 65 percent of the state. One industry consulting firm has influenced politics across Florida, Alabama and at least six other states. NextEras CEO called net-zero emission targets disingenuous without plans to get to real zero, according to reports. That cost is based on the avoided cost that the utility would have incurred if it were to install a comparable system. Bradley, who received Florida Power & Lights draft bill, is a first-term senator who is close to Senate leadership and chairs the Community Affairs Committee and the Subcommittee on Congressional Reapportionment. 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. 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." Terry Dunn wanted to examine why Alabama Power charged some of the highest rates in the country. 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. She said the support she got from other teams was 'overwhelming. Customers at the time were paying some of the highest rates for electricity in the south-east. Its the right thing to do for our state.. 3:12. Former FPL senior executive Armando Pimentel was named as Silagy's replacement. Perkins and Pitts worked together for more than 25 years, expanding the firm into a national operation with dozens of clients in myriad industries. The utility doesnt want to be associated with this campaign.. In his Seeking Rents newsletter, publisher Jason Garcia called this decision: one of the most controversial decisions made in recent years by the PSC, a five-member panel comprised of four DeSantis appointees and one remaining holdover from former Gov. That is your choice, but rest assured, we will hold you accountable if that continues to happen. Building 30 million solar power panels by the year 2025, a goal anticipated to be met five years earlier than planned, and paid for by ratepayers. Upon realizing the extent of Pittss shadow operations and abuses of power, we filed our lawsuit against Pitts and those few rogue employees.. More recently, the company hired an outside law firm to look more broadly at the company's actions. Along with a private investigator, the group delved into Stoddards past for episodes to weaponize against him, such as a South Miami commissioners claim on Facebook that Stoddard had forcibly kissed her. Join the New Times community and help support In all races, the Republican won the election. It grew by 57 percent in 2020, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Theres no time and its urgent, she said. Today, FPL said, two-thirds of its power comes from natural gas, followed by nearly 20% nuclear, 4% solar and almost 3% coal, which comes from a plant NextEra partially owns out of state.. For years, Florida Power & Light has been one of the largest contributors to legislative Florida political campaigns. 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. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. He is also suing Perkins, alleging defamation and extortion. Holley, the Florida Power & Light lobbyist who delivered the net metering language to the Senate, worked to promote Republican Senate candidates in the close races. 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. But the inclusion raises a complex but important question as 21st-century energy policy grapples with ways to further reduce carbon emissions as a climate-change doomsday clock continues to tick-tock. hide caption. local news and culture, Alex DeLuca I think we see in the trend overall nationally is were not moving fast enough toward these cleaner sources as we clearly need to, she said. Yet he acknowledged that the reports may have had an influence on the decision. We took a 1960s-gas guzzling Cadillac and we replaced it with a Ford Focus hybrid, McGrath said. She likened it to comparing emissions from a personal car used once a week and a city bus that takes many trips. However, those policies are coming under fire as utilities become increasingly concerned about how the growth of distributed solar energy affects their bottom line. 0:00. Developing a green hydrogen plant on the site of the former Indiantown coal plant. He is suing Pitts in Alabama for fraud and conspiracy. And for that reason money spent in the present is almost always justified by the potential future: An election cycle might cost an investor-owned utility millions to meaningfully influence, but failing to do so could cost billions later. In May 2018, FPL's sprawling. Justin Vandenbroeck, the president of the Florida Solar Energy Industries Association who also owns an Orlando-based solar installation company, said the solar industry consists mostly of independently-owned small businesses. NextEra officials say that investigation is close to completion. The sex worker later testified the allegations were untrue, and that she had been paid by a Birmingham businessman to make them. Moving Florida toward a brighter energy future. Records obtained by Floodlight and the Orlando Sentinel show that Matrix consulted for FPL, as well as another Florida company, Gulf Power, and Alabama Power. DeSantis appointees also allowed FPL to pocket over $1 billion in corporate tax savings instead of passing those savings on to customers. Hours later, a story like the one the executive pitched appeared on The Capitolist. A local law firm and the company that owned the coal plant used the charity to pay the representative. 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. Florida Power & Light has also invested millions into groups with untraceable, anonymous donors that launched attacks on state and local politicians. 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. 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. Florida Power & Light, whose work with dark-money political committees helped to secure Republican control of the state Senate in the 2020 elections, asked state Sen. Jennifer Bradley to sponsor its top-priority bill: legislation that would hobble rooftop solar by preventing homeowners and businesses from offsetting their costs by selling excess power back to the company, an arrangement known as net metering. That proposal was forwarded to Silagy at FPL but never came to fruition. ABC News cut ties with the producer immediately following that report. Dunn lost his 2014 re-election campaign by a 19-point margin to Chip Beeker, a catfish farmer who is still in office. One of those Democrats,Sen. 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