FPL Energy’s New Name Touts Green Credentials

As the Florida Public Service Commission reportedly considered implementing a “clean” standard, not just a “renewable” standard, last week FPL Energy changed its name to better reflect its green credentials.

FPL Energy’s parent company, FPL Group, said that the renewable energy subsidiary will now don the name “NextEra Energy Resources” to “better reflect its clean energy mission and market focus.” Along with the name change, the company adopted a new logo, visual identity, and web site: www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.

“Today, with growing concern about global climate change and the need for more domestic sources of energy, it is no longer ‘business as usual’ in our industry. Solutions of the past will not suffice to meet the energy and climate challenges we face today,” said NextEra Energy Resources President and CEO Mitch Davidson in a statement.

FPL said that NextEra Energy Resources, the largest generator of wind and solar power in North America, debuts with an enviable market position. Its portfolio includes more than 16,900 MW in 25 U.S. states and Canada. The company has more than 6,300 MW of wind generation in operation, and it is also the largest generator of solar thermal power in the world. In all, the company operates 310 MW of solar power.

The company also includes nuclear power in it portfolio. FPL’s nuclear fleet, including nuclear assets of Florida Power & Light Co., is the third largest in the U.S.

But, for all its green credentials, NextEra Energy Resources would still find it a challenge to meet a recently proposed renewable portfolio standard (RPS) rule that would require utilities to produce 20% of their power from renewable sources by 2020. The draft RPS rule released Monday must be submitted to the Florida Legislature by Feb. 1 and ratified before implementation.

As reported by the Tampa Bay Tribune, staff at the Florida Public Service Commission considered that the 20% by 2020 target could be out of reach for some Florida utilities, proposing instead that the state should adopt a “clean” standard for generating electricity, not just a “renewable” standard.

The measure had been heavily lobbied for by Progress Energy and the FPL Group, according to state newspapers. If it passes in the Legislature, the change would allow utilities to use nuclear power and clean coal technologies to meet the goal, the newspaper reported. Nuclear power already accounts for 18% of Progress Energy’s output, while FPL produces 19% from its plants.

Sources: FPL Group, Florida Public Service Commission, Tampa Bay Tribune