The National Park Service raised concerns that the coal plant would contaminate Lake Okeechobee with mercury and harm the Everglades.
[21][22] The Environmental Protection Agency recognized FPL Group for achieving its goal to reduce its emissions by 21 percent per kilowatt hour in 2008.
[23] The FPL Group Foundation, the company's philanthropic arm, donated $1 million to the Salvation Army in 2009 to help customers in danger of having service turned off pay their power bills.
[26][27] During the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, NextEra Energy donated $1 million to a super PAC supporting Jeb Bush's candidacy.
[35] In November 2015, NextEra Energy sold its La Frontera portfolio, consisting of two assets located in Texas, to Luminant for $1.59 billion.
[36] 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.
[37] 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.
[39] In April 2018, NextEra Energy agreed to sell its Canadian wind and solar generation portfolio to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for $582.3 million.
[42] In February of that year, it filed a lawsuit against the Institute alleging that the trade group had inappropriately cut off its access to a database of nuclear power workers.
[52] In November 2021, the voters of Maine approved a ballot initiative to prohibit construction of the $1 billion transmission line project, which had been represented as a choice between clean energy and the protection of pristine woodlands.
[53] NextEra Energy has backed failed ballot amendment campaigns to impose fees and barriers to installations of rooftop solar panels.
[51] In 2021, investigative reporting by the Miami Herald revealed that NextEra Energy had lobbied Florida legislators to undermine rooftop solar by preventing homeowners and businesses to engage in net metering (selling excess power back to FPL).
[56] “This is a tired tactic that utilities have used to maintain their monopoly grip on electricity markets,” said Will Giese, southeast regional director for the Solar Energy Industries Association.
[58] In 2021, investigative reporting by the Orlando Sun Sentinel revealed that FPL funded political consultants more than $3 million to promote "ghost" spoiler candidates in key Florida legislature races.
The mailing campaign employed the language of the Democratic candidate and had the accomplice focusing on fixing health care, and fighting climate change, all paid for by new, out-of-state political committees.