June 4, 2003
FPL Group captures EEI's `Edison Award,' cited for its `building
a sustainable future' plan
HONOLULU - In recognition of its success in executing a strategy
to become a clean energy provider harnessing primarily clean and
renewable fuels while also boosting shareholder value, FPL Group,
Inc. today was named the 2003 winner of the Edison Award, the electric
power industry's highest honor.
The prestigious prize is given annually by the Edison Electric Institute
(EEI) to the U.S. shareholder-owned member and international member
making the most outstanding contributions to the advancement of the
industry. A committee of national industry trade publication editors
and a panel of past and current EEI chairmen select the finalists
and ultimate winners. This year's award, the 44th, was
given to FPL Group during EEI's annual convention, "Charting
the Future Course," in Honolulu.
"FPL Group's winning strategy clearly demonstrates that environmental
excellence and outstanding financial performance can go hand in hand," said
EEI President Thomas R. Kuhn. "FPL Group's success is emblematic
of the ingenuity and vision that are the hallmarks of our industry.
Its leadership and boldness, and the ability to see what lies ahead
in a constantly changing industry, are what set them apart."
"Our 11,000 employees have worked tirelessly to build a sustainable
future in which clean energy, environmental excellence, customer
satisfaction and increasing shareholder value are hallmarks of our
culture," said Lew Hay, FPL Group chairman and CEO. "To
be recognized for our successful efforts by the Edison Electric Institute,
a leading voice in the electric power industry, is very gratifying."
Juno Beach, Fla.-based FPL Group - through its investor-owned utility,
Florida Power & Light Company, and its independent power producer
subsidiary, FPL Energy - operates in more than 20 states and has
more than 25,000 megawatts of capacity. For more than 10 years, a
key element of the company's strategy has been to achieve a position
as a clean energy provider committed to environmental excellence.
The result is a solid portfolio of power plants with a diverse fuel
mix, the majority of which use clean and renewable fuels to make
electricity. Forty-six percent of FPL Group's total capacity is powered
by natural gas, the cleanest fossil fuel, while emissions-free nuclear
energy comprises another 16 percent.
Significantly, FPL Group is the world leader in wind power, which
accounts for 24 percent of FPL Energy's portfolio, and seven percent
of total company capacity. In 2002, the company added 300 new megawatts
of wind capacity, boosting its U.S. total to more than 1,700 MW.
The company now operates 30 state-of-the-art wind farms in 10 states,
with some of those sites also helping to educate school children
and even generate interest for local tourism.
The company also operates nearly 30 hydroelectric power stations
in Maine, as well as the world's largest solar-powered generating
unit, in California. In the past decade, the company has built a
record for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and
nitrogen oxides that puts it near the top of its class.
FPL Group also has been a national leader in "repowering," or
modifying existing fossil fueled power plants in a way that not only
expands capacity but also significantly reduces air emissions. In
the past decade, the company's repowered capacity of nearly 4,400
megawatts has become about one-fifth of the total published repowered
U.S. capacity and is more than double that of any other utility company.
Edison Electric Institute (EEI) is the association of U.S. shareholder-owned
electric utilities and industry affiliates and associates worldwide.
Its domestic members generate roughly three-quarters of all the electricity
generated by electric utilities in the country and serve about 70
percent of all ultimate customers in the nation.
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