FPL named a top national Environmental Champion for its innovation and exceptional dedication to the environment

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Apr 20, 2017, 12:31 ET

JUNO BEACH, Fla., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) has been recognized as a 2017 Environmental Champion among the nation's largest electric and gas utilities. FPL earned the designation as the result of a nationwide study of utility customers by Market Strategies International, one of the largest market research firms in the world.

The findings are from a Cogent Reports™ study (Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement: Residential) of nearly 58,000 utility customers among 130 U.S. utility providers. The study calculates the companies' ranking on an Environmental Dedication Index, which is based on consumer ratings of five key environmental attributes. According to Market Strategies, the Environmental Champion designation represents consumer recognition of the utilities' "exceptional dedication to the environment."

"FPL is proud of our innovative and cost-effective approach of buying and tearing down old coal plants and building new solar and clean-burning natural gas energy centers. We are committed to environmental excellence, and our ongoing investments in producing and delivering clean, affordable and reliable energy for our customers is why the company consistently remains one of the very cleanest electric utilities in the nation," said Eric Silagy, FPL president and CEO. "This recognition as a national environmental leader is further evidence that our customers value a healthy, sustainable future and support FPL's work to advance affordable energy sources, including solar, nuclear and U.S.-produced natural gas."

After completing three universal solar power facilities in 2016 – tripling its solar generation capacity – FPL is now working to complete eight new universal solar plants by early 2018. On April 3, 2017, FPL unveiled a further acceleration of its solar program by announcing plans to add nearly 2,100 megawatts of new solar power, an average of nearly 300 megawatts annually from 2017 through at least 2023. Since 2001, FPL investments in clean, high-efficiency power generation fueled by U.S.-produced natural gas have saved customers $8.6 billion in fossil fuel costs, prevented 108 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions, and reduced the company's use of imported oil from 40 million barrels annually to less than 1 million – a 99 percent decrease.

"Clearly, consumers value utility environmental efforts, and environmental stewardship is the number one cause customers want their utility to support," said Chris Oberle, senior vice president of Market Strategies International. "Our Environmental Champions are being rewarded through higher trust, reputation, advocacy and overall satisfaction."

About the Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement: Residential study
Cogent Reports conducted surveys among 57,707 residential electric, natural gas and combination utility customers of the 130 largest US utility companies (based on residential customer counts) between Q2 2016 and Q1 2017. The sample design uses US census data and strict quotas to ensure a demographically balanced sample of each evaluated utility's customers based on age, gender, income, race and ethnicity. Utilities within the same region and of the same type (e.g., electric-only providers) are given equal weight in order to balance the influence of each utility's customers on survey results. Market Strategies will supply the exact wording of any survey question upon request.

Florida Power & Light Company
Florida Power & Light Company is the third-largest electric utility in the United States, serving approximately 4.9 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 25 percent lower than the latest national average and, in 2016, was the lowest in Florida among reporting utilities for the seventh 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 Study^SM, 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 8,900 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 2017 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.

SOURCE Florida Power & Light Company