JUNO BEACH, Fla., Nov. 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Florida Public Service Commission approved Florida Power & Light Company's (FPL) request to lower electric rates beginning in January 2016. The decrease is largely the result of the company's ongoing investments in highly efficient power generation, which continue to result in reduced fuel consumption, along with lower fuel prices.
FPL's typical 1,000-kWh residential customer bill is already lower now than it was in 2006 – in addition to being the lowest in Florida and among the lowest in the nation among reporting utilities – and in 2016, it will drop further. A typical residential customer will see a decrease of about $2.50 a month on average in 2016 compared with current rates.
"Our long-term strategy of advancing clean energy affordably and reliably with smart investments continues to pay off for our customers," said Eric Silagy, president and CEO of FPL. "By phasing out older power plants that run on oil and coal and investing in modern, high-efficiency centers that run on natural gas, solar and nuclear, we're delivering power that is far cleaner and more reliable than the average utility while our customers are paying less for their electricity today than they did nearly a decade ago."
Businesses will also see a decrease in their bills next year, with anticipated savings of about 2 to 6 percent, depending on the business customer's rate class and type of service.
That's good news for Mike Bauer, General Manager of Roger Dean Stadium Complex in Palm Beach County, the only stadium in the country to host four minor league teams and only stadium in the state to hold spring training for two major league baseball teams.
"So much of running a business comes down to managing your costs," said Bauer. "The majority of the vendors we depend on to operate have gone up in price, but we can't say that for our FPL bills. And, they haven't just remained flat. What we pay for power has actually come down and will be even lower next year. That's a testament to the company's smart planning. These savings are good for the stadium's bottom line and for my own family at home. When we all save as customers, it allows us to spend more money to have more fun at the park."
Since 2001, FPL's investments in clean generation have saved customers more than $8 billion by using less fuel to generate electricity. These efficiency savings are in addition to the savings from recent low market prices for natural gas.
The company's fleet of efficient power plants has also enabled FPL to achieve a carbon emissions rate that is 35 percent cleaner than the U.S. utility average. In fact, while other utilities around the country are facing potentially higher costs to comply with the U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan, FPL is already cleaner than the goal the plan has set for Florida to reach by 2030.
FPL residential customers can estimate their individual monthly savings by inputting their own monthly energy use into FPL's online bill calculator at FPL.com/lowerbills. They will also see how much they are saving compared to FPL's 2006 rates.
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FPL's Typical 1,000-kWh Residential Customer Bill
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2006 Bill
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Current Bill
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2016 Bill
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Average Monthly Savings in 2016
vs. Current Bill
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Average Monthly Savings in 2016
vs. 2006 Bill
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$108.61
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$96.72
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$94.30
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Approximately
$2.50/month savings
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Approximately
$14.30/month savings
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"2006 Bill" reflects FPL rates in effect during the year 2006. "Current Bill" reflects FPL rates effective Sept. 1, 2015. "2016 Bill" reflects the company's current projections for base, fuel, capacity, environmental and conservation rates and the current storm charge rate. The typical bill is projected to be $93.38 during the months of January through May 2016 and $94.95 from June through December 2016 – for an average of $94.30 a month over 12 months. Rates for June-December 2016 include the projected costs and fuel savings of the FPL Port Everglades Energy Center, which is on track to begin powering customers in June 2016. All bill totals include the state's standard gross receipts tax but do not include any local taxes or fees that vary by community. All rates are subject to change.
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FPL's advanced energy-efficiency tools can help customers save even more
FPL's Online Home Energy Survey can help customers lower bills with personalized savings plans filled with energy-saving tips and recommendations. The survey is integrated with a customer's individual FPL Energy Dashboard – which is updated automatically with hourly, daily and monthly energy usage data, monthly bill amounts, local temperature reading and more – so tracking and managing energy costs is easier than ever. Customers can visit FPL.com/easytosave to learn more.
Florida Power & Light Company
Florida Power & Light Company is the third-largest electric utility in the United States, serving approximately 4.8 million customer accounts 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 2014, was the lowest in Florida among reporting utilities for the fifth 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 was recognized in 2015 as one of the most trusted U.S. electric utilities by Market Strategies International. A leading Florida employer with approximately 8,700 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, including being ranked in the top 10 worldwide for innovativeness and community responsibility as part of Fortune's 2015 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, 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." 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 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 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 or 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) acquisition of NET Holdings Management, LLC (NET Midstream) and other future acquisitions by NEP may not be completed and, even if completed, NextEra Energy may not realize the anticipated benefits of such acquisitions; environmental, health and financial risks associated with NextEra Energy's 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's 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 creditors 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; and effect of disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital markets of 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, 2014 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
