JUNO BEACH, Florida, 16 de enero de 2018 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Florida Power & Light Company anunció hoy que los clientes no pagarán un recargo por la restauración del huracán Irma como se esperaba anteriormente. En su lugar, FPL planea aplicar ahorros tributarios federales hacia el costo de restauración del huracán Irma de $1.3 mil millones, que le ahorrará un promedio de $250 a cada uno de los 4.9 millones de clientes de FPL.
Además, puede que FPL utilice futuros ahorros tributarios federales para continuar operando bajo el acuerdo de tarifa básica actual más allá del plazo inicial, que abarca hasta 2020, por hasta dos años adicionales.
«Este momento de la reforma tributaria federal, después del huracán más caro en la historia de la Florida, creó una oportunidad inusual y sin precedentes. Creemos que el plan que hemos esbozado es la manera más rápida de comenzar a pasar ahorros impositivos a nuestros clientes y el enfoque más apropiado para mantener las tarifas bajas y estables en los próximos años», dijo Eric Silagy, presidente y director ejecutivo de FPL.
El huracán Irma fue una de las tormentas más grandes y poderosas que jamás haya azotado a la Florida, y la respuesta de FPL no tuvo precedentes tanto en escala como en la velocidad del restablecimiento de energía. La compañía había anunciado previamente su intención de comenzar a recuperar el costo de restauración de $1.3 mil millones mediante la implementación de un recargo en las cuentas de los clientes hasta 2020.
La capacidad de aprovechar los ahorros tributarios federales de esta manera se logra mediante el acuerdo de tarifa básica actual de FPL, que se negoció con la Oficina del Defensor Público y otros grupos de clientes y fue aprobado por unanimidad por la Comisión de Servicios Públicos de la Florida en 2016. El acuerdo estableció parámetros para tarifas básicas y recargos por tormentas desde 2017 hasta al menos 2020.
«Nuestro acuerdo de tarifas actual brinda la posibilidad de utilizar los ahorros tributarios federales para compensar por completo los costos de restauración del huracán Irma, que ofrece un beneficio inmediato para los clientes, y también la oportunidad potencial de evitar un aumento general de la tarifa básica por hasta dos años adicionales», dijo Silagy.
Manteniendo las cuentas de los clientes bajas
Mientras que los precios de casi todos los productos y servicios han aumentado en los últimos años, la cuenta típica de cliente residencial de 1,000-kWh de FPL se ha mantenido muy baja. De hecho, la cuenta típica de FPL es más baja hoy que hace más de 10 años.
Ya entre las más bajas de la nación, la cuenta típica de cliente de 1,000 k-Wh de FPL caerá a casi 30 por ciento por debajo del último promedio nacional, con una disminución de $3.35 por mes que entrará en vigencia el 1 de marzo con la finalización de la recuperación de costos por el huracán Matthew.
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Cuenta típica de cliente de 1,000 k-Wh de FPL
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2006
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Actual
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Comenzando
1 de marzo de 2018
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$108.61
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$102.72
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$99.37
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A partir del 1 de marzo, la cuenta típica de FPL será aproximadamente un 15 por ciento más baja que el promedio estatal y un 29 por ciento más baja que el promedio en los EE. UU., según los últimos datos.
Fuente: Promedio estatal ($116.61) refleja cuentas de noviembre 2017 reportadas por 42 empresas de energía eléctrica en la Florida; Promedio de los EE.UU. ($139.86) está basado en cuentas del verano 2017 de 175 empresas de energía eléctrica, publicado por Edison Electric Institute.
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Florida Power & Light Company
Florida Power & Light Company es la tercera empresa de energía eléctrica más grande en los Estados Unidos, proporcionando servicio a casi 5 millones de cuentas de clientes, o un estimado de más de 10 millones de personas, en alrededor de casi la mitad del estado de la Florida. La cuenta típica de cliente residencial de 1,000-kWh de FPL es aproximadamente un 25 por ciento más baja que el último promedio nacional y, entre las más bajas de la nación. La fiabilidad del servicio de FPL es superior al 99.98 por ciento, y sus plantas de energía de uso altamente eficiente del combustible son de las más limpias entre todas las empresas de energía eléctrica del país. La compañía fue reconocida en 2017 como una de las empresas de servicio público más fiables de los EE.UU. por Market Strategies International por cuarto año consecutivo. Siendo un empleador líder en la Florida con aproximadamente 8,900 empleados, FPL es una subsidiaria de NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), una compañía de energía limpia ampliamente reconocida por sus esfuerzos en lo referente a la sostenibilidad, la ética y la diversidad, y ha sido clasificada en el puesto N.º 1 entre las empresas de electricidad y gas en la lista Fortune de 2017 de las «Empresas más Admiradas del Mundo». NextEra Energy también es la compañía matriz de NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, que, junto con sus entidades afiliadas, es una de las mayores generadoras de energía renovable eólica y solar del mundo. Para más información sobre las compañías de NextEra Energy, visite estos sitios de Internet: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.
Cautionary Statements and Risk Factors That May Affect Future Results
This news release contains «forward-looking statements» within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical facts, but instead represent the current expectations of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NextEra Energy) and Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) regarding future operating results and other future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of NextEra Energy’s and FPL’s control. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, among others, statements concerning future operating performance. In some cases, you can identify the forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as «will,» «may result,» «expect,» «anticipate,» «believe,» «intend,» «plan,» «seek,» «potential,» «projection,» «forecast,» «predict,» «goals,» «target,» «outlook,» «should,» «would» or similar words or expressions. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of future performance. The future results of NextEra Energy and FPL and their business and financial condition are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause their actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, or may require them to limit or eliminate certain operations. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: effects of extensive regulation of NextEra Energy’s and FPL’s business operations; inability of NextEra Energy and FPL to recover in a timely manner any significant amount of costs, a return on certain assets or a reasonable return on invested capital through base rates, cost recovery clauses, other regulatory mechanisms or otherwise; impact of political, regulatory and economic factors on regulatory decisions important to NextEra Energy and FPL; disallowance of cost recovery by FPL based on a finding of imprudent use of derivative instruments; effect of any reductions or modifications to, or elimination of, governmental incentives or policies that support utility scale renewable energy projects of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC and its affiliated entities (NextEra Energy Resources) or the imposition of additional tax laws, policies or assessments on renewable energy; impact of new or revised laws, regulations, interpretations or other regulatory initiatives on NextEra Energy and FPL;; capital expenditures, increased operating costs and various liabilities attributable to environmental laws, regulations and other standards applicable to NextEra Energy and FPL; effects on NextEra Energy and FPL of federal or state laws or regulations mandating new or additional limits on the production of greenhouse gas emissions; exposure of NextEra Energy and FPL to significant and increasing compliance costs and substantial monetary penalties and other sanctions as a result of extensive federal regulation of their operations and businesses; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL of changes in tax laws, guidance or policies as well as in judgments and estimates used to determine tax-related asset and liability amounts; impact on NextEra Energy and FPL of adverse results of litigation; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL of failure to proceed with projects under development or inability to complete the construction of (or capital improvements to) electric generation, transmission and distribution facilities, gas infrastructure facilities or other facilities on schedule or within budget; impact on development and operating activities of NextEra Energy and FPL resulting from risks related to project siting, financing, construction, permitting, governmental approvals and the negotiation of project development agreements; risks involved in the operation and maintenance of electric generation, transmission and distribution facilities, gas infrastructure facilities and other facilities; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL of a lack of growth or slower growth in the number of customers or in customer usage; impact on NextEra Energy and FPL of severe weather and other weather conditions; threats of terrorism and catastrophic events that could result from terrorism, cyber attacks or other attempts to disrupt NextEra Energy’s and FPL’s business or the businesses of third parties; inability to obtain adequate insurance coverage for protection of NextEra Energy and FPL against significant losses and risk that insurance coverage does not provide protection against all significant losses; a prolonged period of low gas and oil prices could impact NextEra Energy Resources’ gas infrastructure business and cause NextEra Energy Resources to delay or cancel certain gas infrastructure projects and for certain existing projects to be impaired; risk to NextEra Energy Resources of increased operating costs resulting from unfavorable supply costs necessary to provide NextEra Energy Resources’ full energy and capacity requirement services; inability or failure by NextEra Energy Resources to manage properly or hedge effectively the commodity risk within its portfolio; effect of reductions in the liquidity of energy markets on NextEra Energy’s ability to manage operational risks; effectiveness of NextEra Energy’s and FPL’s risk management tools associated with their hedging and trading procedures to protect against significant losses, including the effect of unforeseen price variances from historical behavior; impact of unavailability or disruption of power transmission or commodity transportation facilities on sale and delivery of power or natural gas by FPL and NextEra Energy Resources; exposure of NextEra Energy and FPL to credit and performance risk from customers, hedging counterparties and vendors; failure of NextEra Energy or FPL counterparties to perform under derivative contracts or of requirement for NextEra Energy or FPL to post margin cash collateral under derivative contracts; failure or breach of NextEra Energy’s or FPL’s information technology systems; risks to NextEra Energy and FPL’s retail businesses from compromise of sensitive customer data; losses from volatility in the market values of derivative instruments and limited liquidity in OTC markets; impact of negative publicity; inability of NextEra Energy and FPL to maintain, negotiate or renegotiate acceptable franchise agreements with municipalities and counties in Florida; occurrence of work strikes or stoppages and increasing personnel costs; NextEra Energy’s ability to successfully identify, complete and integrate acquisitions, including the effect of increased competition for acquisitions; NextEra Energy Partners, LP’s (NEP’s) acquisitions may not be completed and, even if completed, NextEra Energy may not realize the anticipated benefits of any acquisitions; environmental, health and financial risks associated with NextEra Energy Resources’ and FPL’s ownership and operation of nuclear generation facilities; liability of NextEra Energy and FPL for significant retrospective assessments and/or retrospective insurance premiums in the event of an incident at certain nuclear generation facilities; increased operating and capital expenditures and/or result in reduced revenues at nuclear generation facilities of NextEra Energy or FPL resulting from orders or new regulations of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; inability to operate any of NextEra Energy Resources’ or FPL’s owned nuclear generation units through the end of their respective operating licenses; effect of disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital markets on NextEra Energy’s and FPL’s ability to fund their liquidity and capital needs and meet their growth objectives; inability of NextEra Energy, FPL and NextEra Energy Capital Holdings, Inc. to maintain their current credit ratings; impairment of NextEra Energy’s and FPL’s liquidity from inability of credit providers to fund their credit commitments or to maintain their current credit ratings; poor market performance and other economic factors that could affect NextEra Energy’s defined benefit pension plan’s funded status; poor market performance and other risks to the asset values of NextEra Energy’s and FPL’s nuclear decommissioning funds; changes in market value and other risks to certain of NextEra Energy’s investments; effect of inability of NextEra Energy subsidiaries to pay upstream dividends or repay funds to NextEra Energy or of NextEra Energy’s performance under guarantees of subsidiary obligations on NextEra Energy’s ability to meet its financial obligations and to pay dividends on its common stock; the fact that the amount and timing of dividends payable on NextEra Energy’s common stock, as well as the dividend policy approved by NextEra Energy’s board of directors from time to time, and changes to that policy, are within the sole discretion of NextEra Energy’s board of directors and, if declared and paid, dividends may be in amounts that are less than might be expected by shareholders; NEP’s inability to access sources of capital on commercially reasonable terms could have an effect on its ability to consummate future acquisitions and on the value of NextEra Energy’s limited partner interest in NextEra Energy Operating Partners, LP; and effects of disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital markets on the market price of NextEra Energy’s common stock. NextEra Energy and FPL discuss these and other risks and uncertainties in their annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 and other SEC filings, and this news release should be read in conjunction with such SEC filings made through the date of this news release. The forward-looking statements made in this news release are made only as of the date of this news release and NextEra Energy and FPL undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
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FUENTE Florida Power & Light Company
