The past year has seen the successful flowering of the new economic development arm at FPL, which in 2012 helped make possible $1.8 billion in new corporate facility projects that will create more than 16,900 jobs.
Led by Lynn Pitts, director of economic development, the FPL team serves a territory encompassing 35 Florida counties and some 4.6 million customer accounts. But they go above and beyond territorial lines:
“FPL understands that to be successful, our economic development program must go beyond offering a discounted electric rate,” they said in response to Site Selection’s annual questionnaire. “We launched innovative initiatives that are significantly shaping economic development across the entire state of Florida. These programs include the PoweringFlorida® seminar series, PoweringFlorida.com website and Resource Center. We offer these programs to all communities in the state, not just those in our service territory, because we believe that a strong state economy benefits everyone.”
The utility and its parent company, NextEra Energy, also continue to be a national leader in renewable energy deployment, as well a sustainability programs such as FPL’s effort to green its vehicle fleet with hybrid and EV models. FPL also continues to partner with a real estate developer in southwest Florida to build the world’s largest solar PV power plant at Babcock Ranch, Fla., with plans to make it the world’s first city powered by solar energy.
