JUNO BEACH, Fla., Dec. 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida
Power & Light Company (FPL) today announced plans to formally retire the Cedar Bay Generating Plant, a 250-megawatt
coal-fired facility located in Jacksonville, Fla., on Dec. 31,
2016. FPL purchased the plant in 2015 with the intention of phasing it out of service in this time frame.
Prior to the acquisition, FPL had been obligated to purchase power from the plant under a 1988 Power Purchase Agreement with
the plant's previous owners. That agreement had become uneconomic because FPL generates far cleaner energy today at a much lower
cost by investing heavily in modernizing its system.
"Buying and shutting down old, inefficient coal plants is unprecedented in America," said Eric
Silagy, president and CEO of FPL. "I'm very proud of our employees for proposing this innovative approach that's
environmentally beneficial and saves customers millions of dollars."
In fact, FPL is cleaner today than the 2030 carbon emissions rate goal for Florida outlined by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Power Plan. At the same time, FPL's typical residential customer bills are about 30 percent lower
than the national average.
The buyout and closure of the Cedar Bay plant is estimated to save FPL customers more than $70
million. In addition, it will prevent nearly 1 million tons of carbon emissions annually. This amount of carbon reduction
is the EPA equivalent of saving more than 100 million gallons of gasoline or switching more than 23 million incandescent light
bulbs to energy-efficient compact-fluorescent lights every year.
"Cedar Bay is an example of FPL being one of the cleanest and most reliable electric utilities in the nation," said
Eric Draper, Executive Director of Audubon Florida. "FPL has a forward-looking strategy of making
smart, innovative, long-term investments including solar to reduce emissions while providing affordable clean energy for its
customers."
The buyout was approved by the Florida Public Service Commission in 2015. More information about the plan can be found in
FPL's Aug. 27, 2015 news release. After the plant has been closed down, FPL will dismantle the facility, a process
that is expected to take approximately two years.
FPL is also in the process of purchasing and phasing out another coal-fired power plant, located in Indiantown, Fla. Similar to the Cedar Bay plan, this purchase is projected to save FPL customers an
estimated $129 million and prevent more than 657,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually -
further expanding upon FPL's position as the clean energy leader in Florida, and among the
leading clean energy companies nationwide. The Indiantown facility is expected to be shut down
by the end of 2018.
FPL has been strategically phasing out older, less efficient oil and coal-fired plants and replacing them with advanced,
fuel-efficient energy centers. Since 2001, FPL's investments in high-efficiency natural gas generation alone have enabled the
company to cut its use of foreign oil by more than 98 percent – from more than 40 million barrels of oil in 2001 to less than 1
million barrels annually today. This has saved FPL customers more than $8 billion on fuel costs and
prevented more than 95 million tons of carbon emissions.
FPL has also invested successfully to increase its use of zero-emissions solar power. In 2016, the company has installed more
than 1 million new solar panels in Florida, and plans to install significantly more solar every
year through at least 2020. The new panels were installed at three new universal-scale solar energy centers, which together will
provide approximately 224 megawatts of generating capacity, making them among the very largest solar facilities in the eastern
U.S. They are expected to begin generating power for FPL customers in the coming days.
Florida Power & Light Company
Florida Power & Light Company is the third-largest electric utility in the United States, serving more than 4.8 million customer accounts or more than 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, in 2015, was the lowest in Florida among reporting utilities for
the sixth year in a row. 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 received the top ranking in the southern U.S. among large
electric providers, according to the J.D. Power 2016 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction StudySM, and was
recognized in 2016 as one of the most trusted U.S. electric utilities by Market Strategies International. A leading Florida
employer with approximately 8,800 employees, FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Fla.-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 2016 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 press release include,
among others, statements concerning adjusted earnings per share expectations and future operating performance. 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," "aim," "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 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 taxes or assessments on
renewable energy; impact of new or revised laws, regulations, interpretations or other regulatory initiatives on NextEra Energy
and FPL; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL of potential regulatory action to broaden the scope of regulation of over-the-counter
(OTC) financial derivatives and to apply such regulation to 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; effect on
NextEra Energy and FPL of changes in tax laws and 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; potential volatility of NextEra Energy's results of operations caused
by sales of power on the spot market or on a short-term contractual basis; 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; increasing costs of health care plans; lack of a qualified workforce or the loss or retirement of
key employees; 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; NextEra Energy
Partners, LP's (NEP's) acquisitions may not be completed and, even if completed, NextEra Energy may not realize the anticipated
benefits of any 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 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; liability of NextEra Energy and FPL for
increased nuclear licensing or compliance costs resulting from hazards, and increased public attention to hazards, posed to their
owned nuclear generation facilities; risks associated with outages of NextEra Energy Resources' and FPL's owned nuclear units;
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, 2015 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