About Us — NextEra Energy Resources

FPL Group FPL Group   FPLFlorida Power & Light   FPL Energy NextEra Energy Resources

A Growing Industry Leader

On Jan. 7, 2009, FPL Energy LLC was renamed NextEra Energy Resources LLC to better reflect the company’s clean-energy mission and market focus. FPL Group’s competitive energy business had an outstanding year in 2008, with adjusted earnings of $821 million* in 2008. Considering 2000 adjusted earnings were $83 million*, the company has grown dramatically in a relatively short period of time.

The nation’s leading renewable-energy provider, NextEra Energy Resources has a growing portfolio of facilities with nearly17,000 net megawatts of generating capacity. Approximately 95 percent of its electricity is derived from clean or renewable sources, including wind, solar, hydro, natural gas and nuclear energy.

Primarily a wholesale power generator, NextEra Energy Resources operates power plants and sells the output to utilities, retail electricity providers, power cooperatives, municipal electric providers and large industrial companies.

NextEra Energy Resources Portfolio

NextEra Energy Resources’ portfolio includes 96 operating projects in 25 states and Canada. Additionally, NextEra Energy Resources has corporate offices located in Florida, which expands its presence to 26 states. Operations diversified by fuel source and geographic region help the company manage its power generation business more efficiently and economically, especially in today’s volatile energy markets.

Click map for a complete listing of power plant sites.

A Pioneer and World Leader in Clean, Renewable Energy

Long before clean energy became a popular choice in America, NextEra Energy Resources had been leading the way in generating electricity from renewable fuels. Early on, NextEra Energy Resources recognized the environmental benefits of building a portfolio around harnessing the power of the sun, wind and water to produce electricity. Renewable energy helps meet the climate change challenge and provides diversity to the nation’s energy mix.

No. 1 in Wind Energy

NextEra Energy Resources remained the largest owner and operator of wind generating facilities in North America in 2008. The company had 65 wind facilities (more than 8,200 turbines) in operation in 16 states and Canada, with an installed capacity of nearly 6,400 megawatts of electricity. For the seventh year in the last eight, NextEra Energy Resources added more megawatts to its wind portfolio than any other wind-energy developer in the nation. In response to the growing demand for cleaner sources of generation, NextEra Energy Resources expects to add more than 1,000 megawatts of new wind projects to its portfolio in 2009 and has approximately 28,000 megawatts in its wind-development pipeline.

Most Power from the Sun

Today, NextEra Energy Resources is the largest generator of solar thermal power in the country. The company co-owns and operates seven solar plants in California’s Mojave Desert, collectively known as the world’s largest solar site. In all, NextEra Energy Resources operates 310 megawatts of solar power, which is capable of meeting the energy needs of about 230,000 homes during peak production time.

NextEra Energy Resources is expanding its solar development activities. Its goal is to add at least 600 megawatts of new solar energy generation by 2015. To date, NextEra Energy Resources has identified 800 megawatts to 1,000 megawatts of potential new solar sites and has begun full permitting toward adding its proposed 250-megawatt Beacon Solar Energy Project in California. To support its development activities, the company has leased, purchased or has options on a significant amount of land in the western and southwestern United States.

A Leader in Hydro

NextEra Energy Resources is a leading producer of hydroelectric power, with 81 units at 23 projects in Maine totaling approximately 360 megawatts of renewable energy. These facilities generate enough electricity to meet the needs of about 330,000 households. They also form water reservoirs that provide recreational opportunities to local communities and essential habitat to Maine fish and wildlife. NextEra Energy Resources Maine Hydro is dedicated to operating its facilities efficiently, balancing the needs of customers with a commitment to environmental stewardship.

Clean Natural Gas

NextEra Energy Resources has incorporated the cleanest-burning fossil fuel, natural gas, into its portfolio with facilities in 10 states. Often, the company installs combined-cycle technology, which uses waste heat to drive an additional power generator for increased energy efficiency and lower emissions than conventional fossil-fuel units. This type of power plant is about 30 percent more efficient than a traditional steam plant.

Clean Nuclear Power

NextEra Energy Resources has one of the largest competitive nuclear energy businesses in the United States. With its full ownership of Point Beach Nuclear Plant in Wisconsin and its majority interests in the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa and Seabrook Station in New Hampshire, NextEra Energy Resources produces a significant amount of electricity through clean nuclear energy. Nuclear power plants produce no greenhouse gas emissions during operation, a fact that NextEra Energy Resources believes represents a responsible energy choice for the future as climate change concerns intensify. All three NextEra Energy Resources nuclear power plants have excellent safety records and are focused on reliable operation.

Expanding Transmission Facilities

In addition to building renewable generation, NextEra Energy Resources is in the business of developing transmission to carry that power from remote locations to the population centers that will use it. NextEra Energy Resources owns various transmission lines across the country and is pursuing additional large-scale opportunities to develop, build and operate new transmission facilities. For example, the Public Utility Commission of Texas recently awarded Lone Star Transmission, an FPL Group subsidiary, a $565 million transmission project as part of the state’s Competitive Renewable Energy Zone process.

Marketing Wholesale Energy

NextEra Energy Power Marketing LLC buys and sells wholesale energy commodities such as natural gas, oil and electricity; manages all fuel needs of NextEra Energy Resources power generation fleet; and markets the output to customers across the country. Again in 2008, Platts, a leading industry publication, ranked NextEra Energy Power Marketing as one of the top 10 power marketers.

NextEra Energy Power Marketing is one of the largest purchasers of natural gas in the country. In addition, NextEra Energy Power Marketing markets the largest renewable energy portfolio in the country. NextEra Energy Power Marketing is able to provide custom renewable energy solutions for customers with specific needs, from meeting voluntary and regulatory mandates associated with renewable portfolio standards to working with businesses to meet their goals on renewable energy generation or carbon emissions management.

Growing Retail Market Business

NextEra Energy Resources entered the retail market in 2005 through the acquisition of Gexa Energy in Texas. Gexa Energy is a dynamic retail electricity provider serving approximately 160,000 customer meters in Texas alone in 2008. The company serves residential and commercial customers in numerous retail power markets in the United States and manages the related billing, customer service, collections and remittance services.

Environmental Excellence

A common element throughout all NextEra Energy Resources operations is a commitment to environmental excellence. NextEra Energy Resources incorporates environmental stewardship into the design, construction, operation and maintenance of its facilities and abides by all federal, state and local laws and regulations, often seeking the feedback of environmental organizations. Company leadership also is committed to ensuring that the growing demand for power is met in the most environmentally responsible manner. Reducing carbon dioxide and other pollutants through the use of clean-burning fuels and renewable resources is very important.

NextEra Energy Resources wind facilities enabled customers who purchased these renewable attributes to reduce the following amounts of 2008 emissions that otherwise would have been released into the atmosphere:

  • Nearly 13 million tons of carbon dioxide
  • More than 30,000 tons of sulfur dioxide
  • More than 19,000 tons of nitrogen oxides

Other examples of environmental stewardship include wildlife protection and land preservation at NextEra Energy Resources power plant sites:

  • In New Hampshire, Seabrook Station uses only one-tenth of its 900-acre property for power-production purposes. The remaining property is left in its natural habitat, providing homes to native plants and wildlife. Located on marshlands adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, Seabrook Station has also for the last six years supported the New Hampshire Estuary Project, an organization working to improve water quality in the Hampton/Seabrook Estuary. The station’s marsh and wooded areas are home to a wide variety of birds and other animals.
  • In Maine, where NextEra Energy Resources operates its hydroelectric facilities, the company is working with local agencies to enable fish that live part of their lives in the rivers and part of their lives in the ocean to make their way over the dams to complete their life cycles. NextEra Energy Resources has built lifts and ladders to help fish over the dams.
  • In California’s Mojave Desert, NextEra Energy Resources has installed a screen around the fencing at its solar-energy site to ensure the endangered desert tortoise thrives in its natural habitat.
  • In Iowa, at its Duane Arnold Energy Center, NextEra Energy Resources has helped provide nesting locations for ospreys, which have fewer than 10 nesting locations in the entire state.

But perhaps the best example of initiative taken in the area of environmental stewardship is the five-year research partnership established in 2008 between NextEra Energy Resources, Texas Christian University and Oxford University to better understand the ecological and socioeconomic impacts of wind-power development. The research focuses on how wind power can coexist with thriving bird and bat populations, reduce carbon emissions and positively contribute to local economies.

Good Stewards of Communities Served

NextEra Energy Resources strives to build strong partnerships with the communities where it operates. The company remains sensitive to the needs of local landowners who lease property to NextEra Energy Resources for its wind facilities and takes proactive measures to meet their needs. During wind-project site development and construction, NextEra Energy Resources is committed to open communication with its host communities – a relationship that continues when the facilities are in operation.

In addition to establishing and maintaining community dialogue, NextEra Energy Resources sites are directly involved in community activities, such as providing on-site visitor centers at Seabrook Station in New Hampshire and Point Beach Nuclear Plant in Wisconsin; sponsoring school presentations to students in Texas, Alabama and South Carolina that explain the importance of electricity and clean energy; and presenting magical light shows for the public at the Wyman Station in Maine.

Legal Notices  |  Privacy Policy  |  Terms  

An FPL Group Company Copyright ©1996 - , FPL Group, Inc. All rights reserved.