“Terrible energy policy.” That was James Robo’s dismissive comment regarding offshore wind development in NextEra Energy’s first quarter earning’s call last week. His comment was preceded by a recollection that he, and the company, had “worked very hard at offshore wind 15 years ago…on a project off of Long Island.” Ultimately, however, the company didn’t get the project—talk about holding a grudge. More to the point, is Robo really relying on a 15-year-old experience to drive corporate policy? It would be an understatement to say that much has changed in the energy business, particularly concerning renewables, during this period. To see just how much has changed, let’s narrow the scope to the last four years. And to make it particularly relevant, let’s look at the changes at NextEra subsidiary Florida Power & Light, one of the nation’s largest utilities.

In its 2014 Ten-Year Site Plan (which can be found here), FPL told Florida regulators that it had two operating solar photovoltaic facilities, totaling just 35 MW. It also said that it was in the process of “identifying other potential sites in the state for potential central station PV facilities.” But later, in its forecast of future generation, it projected that in 2023, the final year of the forecast, the utility would produce 67 gigawatt-hours of electricity from PV sources—one GWh less than the 2013 total. In other words, FPL had absolutely no intention of pursuing PV generation.

Continue reading NextEra’s Robo Is Wrong About Offshore Wind →

Follow