Florida Power & Light

History of FPL

1925

Florida Power & Light Company was created on Dec. 28, 1925. In the beginning, FPL owned power plants, water facilities, gas plants, ice companies, laundry services and even an ice cream business.

In its first year, the company served approximately 76,000 customers in 58 communities, and had a generating capacity of 70 megawatts.

1926

One of the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history, the 1926 Miami Hurricane, struck South Florida. The storm tangled electric lines, snapped power poles and flooded plants. The damage cost FPL $1.6 million, but the company rebuilt and continued to expand.

1927

The company bought 20 acres of land to develop a demonstration farm to convince potential residents that the marshy soil could be transformed into profitable farmland. The flourishing property included livestock and 150 varieties of plants.

1928

The Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928 hit South Florida, killing 2,000 people. FPL converted one of its warehouses into a first-aid station to help those in need.

1929

The company hired door-to-door salespeople to sell electric appliances and created display rooms at their local offices. Every employee became a salesperson, encouraging customers to purchase vacuums, coffee makers, refrigerators and toasters.

NOW

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) is a leading clean energy company with consolidated revenues of approximately $14.3 billion, more than 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity, and nearly 15,000 employees in 26 states and Canada as of year-end 2012. Headquartered in Juno Beach, Fla., NextEra Energy's principal subsidiaries are:

• Florida Power & Light Company, which serves approximately 4.6 million customer accounts in Florida and is one of the largest rate-regulated electric utilities in the United States, and
• NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which together with its affiliated entities is the largest generator in North America of renewable energy from the wind and sun.
• Through its subsidiaries, NextEra Energy generates clean, emissions-free electricity from eight commercial nuclear power units in Florida, New Hampshire, Iowa and Wisconsin.