Secretive group targets FPL customers with misinformation

Re Mike Hightower’s Aug. 6 op-ed, “FPL wants a rate hike but, after a year of hardship, electric customers need that money:” I’m willing to bet most readers have never heard of Hightower or the organization he represents, Floridians Against Increased Rates (FAIR).

It’s not surprising. As previously reported by the Miami Herald, it’s a “new group with secretive funding.”

Seemingly create solely to challenge FPL, the group claimed in March, through an official filing with state regulators, that it had 500 members and should be allowed to formally participate in this regulatory proceeding.

However, when recently pressed under oath, the group’s executives admitted that was not the case. In reality, back in March, the group didn’t have a single member and, instead, hired a public-relations firm to frantically solicit sign-ups. The group also did not — and still does not — have an office, employees, a telephone number or an email address.

Credibility matters. FAIR is nothing more than a shell organization controlled by a small group of non-FPL customers who lied to state regulators. Now, the group is trying to pull one over on others, too.

Here are the facts:

FPL is proposing a four-year plan that would phase in new rates starting in 2022. Contrary to Hightower’s insinuation that it’s arbitrary, our plan is rooted in and builds on our proven track record of making disciplined, long-term investments in infrastructure, clean energy and innovative technology that improve service for customers and keep bills low over time.

This includes more solar energy, battery storage and even innovative green hydrogen technology, which could one day unlock 100% carbon-free electricity that’s available 24 hours a day. It also includes continuing to build a stronger, smarter and more storm-resilient energy grid.

Hightower attempts to undercut the need for our rate plan by citing a bevy of financial metrics, from adjusted profits and earnings per share to allowed return on equity.

But he fails to recognize that customers don’t receive this watered-down, financial encyclopedia each month. Instead, they receive an electric bill.

And, today, FPL’s typical customer bills are lower than they were 15 years ago and well below the national average. Even with our proposed increase, FPL customers will continue to pay bills that are well below the national average through 2025.

Hightower deliberately omits these facts, much like he fails to mention the $75 million in assistance we provided customers — more than any utility in Florida — who were struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bottom line, this is about track records.

In a rapidly growing state on the front lines of climate change and frequently severe weather, FPL’s track record is proof that our plan will enable us to build a more-resilient and sustainable energy future all of us can depend on — including future generations.

This story was originally published August 7, 2021 at 8:27 PM with the headline "Secretive group targets FPL customers with misinformation."