NextEra Energy


NextEra Energy, Inc. is an energy company with about 45,900 megawatts of generating capacity, revenues of over $17 billion in 2017, and about 14,000 employees throughout the US and Canada. It is the largest electric utility holding company by market capitalization. Its subsidiaries include Florida Power & Light, NextEra Energy Resources, NextEra Energy Partners, Gulf Power Company, and NextEra Energy Services.
FPL, the largest of the subsidiaries, delivers rate-regulated electricity to approximately 5 million customer accounts, or an estimated 10 million people, across nearly half of Florida and is the third largest electric utility company in the United States. NEER, together with its affiliated entities, is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun. In addition to wind and solar, NextEra Energy Resources owns and operates generating plants powered by natural gas, nuclear energy, and oil.
The company ranked 167th on the 2018 Fortune 500 of the largest United States corporations by revenue.

Corporate history

The predecessor company Florida Power & Light Company was founded in 1925. The holding company FPL Group Inc. was formed in 1984, after the company began efforts to diversify its business. FPL Group changed its name to NextEra Energy Inc. in March 2010. At this time, the stock ticker symbol also changed from FPL to NEE.
Nextera Energy is incorporated in Florida.

Mergers and acquisitions

In March 2000, FPL Group and Spanish company Iberdrola SA were reported to be in "extensive merger discussions". The talks were terminated and the merger transaction was not consummated due to opposition from Iberdrola's board, according to news reports.
In July 2000, FPL Group and Entergy Corporation announced plans to merge. The companies terminated the merger in April 2001.
In June 2005, FPL Energy, a subsidiary of FPL Group, acquired Houston-based Gexa Energy in June 2005 for $80.6 million.
In December 2005, FPL Group announced an $11 billion all-stock acquisition of Maryland-based Constellation Energy Group. The companies mutually agreed to terminate the sale in October 2006 due to uncertainty over regulatory and judicial matters in Maryland.
On December 4, 2014, NextEra Energy announced its plans to purchase Hawaiian Electric Industries for $4.3 billion. However, in July 2016, Hawaii's Public Utilities Commission rejected the offer in a 2-0 vote over doubts of NextEra Energy's commitment to the state's renewable energy goal, which terminated the merger agreement. The proposed merger had support from over 25 local groups, including the Hawaii State AFL–CIO and the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce.
NextEra Energy and Energy Future Holdings, parent company of Texas-based utility Oncor Electric Delivery, reached a $18.7 billion merger agreement on July 29, 2016, but the agreement was terminated in July 2017 after the Texas Public Utility Commission rejected the offer over disagreement on the control of Oncor's board of directors. Two other competing bids were submitted in July 2017 for purchasing Oncor, including a $17.5 billion bid from Berkshire Hathaway Energy and a $18.5 billion bid from Elliott Management Corporation.
In January 2018, NextEra Energy expressed interest with members of the South Carolina Senate over a possible purchase of SCANA and Santee Cooper. Dominion Energy offered $14.6 billion to buy SCANA, but South Carolina lawmakers harshly criticized the proposal over a lack of future taxpayer relief. In February 2018, NextEra Energy floated a $15.9 billion proposal to buy Santee Cooper and briefed South Carolina lawmakers.
In May 2018, NextEra Energy announced that it planned to buy Gulf Power Company, the largest electricity producer in Northwest Florida, from Southern Company in a $6.4 billion deal, pending approval from regulators. The acquisition, which expanded NextEra Energy's combined residential customer base in Florida to approximately 51 percent of the state's population, was completed on January 1, 2019.

Corporate affairs

Litigation

In January 2018, NextEra Energy, along with Entergy, withdrew from the Nuclear Energy Institute over disagreements on the trade group's agenda. In February 2018, NextEra Energy filed a lawsuit against NEI, accusing the trade group of "retaliatory action" and "extortion", claiming that NEI revoked its ability to access the Personnel Access Data System, the nuclear industry personnel database, unless $860,000 was paid. The president and CEO of NEI responded that the organization "vehemently denies all of the allegations in NextEra’s lawsuit and will vigorously defend our position in court" and that "NextEra lost the ability to participate in PADS upon choosing to discontinue its NEI membership".
In June 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit rejected NextEra Energy's claim for a $97 million tax deduction for $200 million paid in contract fees to the federal government toward the Nuclear Waste Fund. NextEra Energy sought to deduct payments made between 2003 and 2010 for "the disposal of radioactive waste produced by nuclear power plants operated by subsidiaries Florida Power & Light Co. and NextEra Energy Resources", but the court reasoned that the contract fees "do not qualify as specified liability losses”.
In August 2018, NextEra Energy received a cease and desist order by Oklahoma state officials concerning the construction of wind turbines violating state law. The Oklahoma state law, which took effect in May 2018 to protect open air space, states that developers obtain either a "no hazard" determination for each turbine from the Federal Aviation Administration or work out a mitigation plan with the United States Department of Defense, and then submit notification of such with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission before construction may begin. NextEra Energy had filed obstruction evaluation cases for the construction of wind turbines in Oklahoma with the FAA in March 2018, but the FAA had yet to issue determinations at the time that the cease and desist order was issued.

Finances

For the fiscal year 2017, NextEra Energy reported earnings of US$5.378 billion, with an annual revenue of US$17.195 billion, an increase of 6.4% over the previous fiscal cycle. NextEra Energy's shares traded at over $261 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at over US$117 billion at the end of 2019.
YearRevenue
in mil. USD$		Net income
in mil. USD$		Total Assets
in mil. USD$		Average
Price per Share
in USD$		Employees
200511,84690132,99027.18
200615,7101,28135,82229.78
200715,2631,31240,12342.98
200816,4101,63944,82142.17
200915,6431,61548,45839.42
201015,3171,95752,99439.52
201115,3411,92357,18844.47
201214,2561,91164,43954.78
201315,1361,90869,30668.9313,400
201417,0212,46574,60585.8813,400
201517,4862,75282,47993.9714,300
201616,1552,91289,993113.0014,700
201717,1955,37897,827137.1614,000
201816,7275,776103,702179.4114,200
201919,2043,388117,691242.1614,800

Politics

During the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, NextEra Energy donated $1 million to a Super PAC supporting Jeb Bush's presidential candidacy.

Charitable causes

In September 2017, the NextEra Energy Foundation, the charitable arm of NextEra Energy, donated $1 million to the Florida Disaster Fund and matched individual contributions of employees in the wake of Hurricane Irma.