FPL Announces Agreement with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

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Thu Oct 8, 2009 11:43am EDT

JUNO BEACH, Fla.--(Business Wire)--
Florida Power & Light Company, a subsidiary of FPL Group, Inc. (NYSE:FPL), today
announced that it has agreed to a settlement with the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)
related to a Feb. 26, 2008, power outage in Florida. 

Under the agreement, FPL will pay $10 million each to the United States Treasury
and NERC and will invest $5 million in transmission system reliability
enhancements above and beyond already planned investments. These amounts will be
from FPL Group shareholder funds and will not affect customer bills. 

On Feb. 26, 2008, FPL`s transmission system - the high-voltage power lines that
carry electricity from power plants to substations - experienced a service
interruption as a result of human error. A field engineer was diagnosing a
switch that had malfunctioned. Without authorization and contrary to FPL`s
policies and procedures, the engineer disabled the primary and backup equipment
that prevents electrical failures at a switch from spreading. A failure occurred
at the switch, and because both levels of protective equipment had been
disabled, it caused an outage that affected approximately 600,000 FPL customers
in southeast Florida for an average of one hour. 

FERC`s Office of Enforcement had asserted potential violations of industry
reliability standards by FPL in connection with the event. FPL believes it was
in compliance at all times. As part of the settlement agreement, FERC does not
conclude in any manner that FPL violated any reliability standards or laws, and
FPL does not admit any violations or liability in connection with the outage. 

FPL noted that in a number of instances the standards it was alleged to have
violated are ambiguous and subjective. The company agrees with the view stated
by FERC Commissioner Philip D. Moeller, who said in a concurring opinion in
today`s order approving the settlement, that "[t]hose who are subject to
Commission penalties need to know, in advance, what they must do to avoid a
penalty." 

"We deeply regret the inconvenience this incident caused our customers and the
communities we serve. However, we disagree with the assertions of FERC`s Office
of Enforcement. We believe the evidence and the findings of independent
investigations demonstrate that FPL was in compliance with industry reliability
standards and that this incident was, unfortunately, the result of the
inappropriate and unauthorized actions of an individual," FPL President and CEO
Armando J. Olivera said. 

"This event dates back to February 2008 and could take several more years and be
very costly to resolve through litigation with a federal regulatory agency.
Litigation would require the time and attention of the same people who are
responsible for the reliability of the grid. As a result, we believe a
settlement is an appropriate course of action at this time," Olivera said. 

"FPL has a long-standing history of regulatory compliance and superior system
reliability, and we are deeply committed to compliance with all FERC rules and
regulations. Our focus is on continuing to safely provide reliable service to
our customers. Our overall reliability record is acknowledged as being among the
very best in the country and is 47 percent better than the national average, and
FERC itself acknowledged in the settlement agreement that FPL`s distribution
reliability is superior. This performance is the strongest demonstration of our
consistent commitment to rigorous operating standards and regulatory
compliance," Olivera noted. 

FPL believes that it was in compliance with industry reliability standards at
the time of the outage as a result of the documented findings of prior NERC
audits and two independent investigations of the incident, which were conducted
in addition to FPL`s own extensive internal investigation:

* NERC had conducted two prior reliability readiness evaluations of FPL
reliability practices and performance in which representatives of FERC
participated. These audits found FPL had the appropriate plans, processes,
procedures and personnel in place to ensure reliability. 
* An independent investigation was conducted by the Florida Reliability
Coordinating Council (FRCC), which has been delegated authority from NERC to
propose and enforce reliability standards within the FRCC Region. The FRCC
performed a detailed analysis of all technical and human aspects of the Feb. 26,
2008, outage and, in an Oct. 30, 2008, report identified no FPL violations of
reliability standards. 
* FPL also commissioned an independent investigation by ICF International, a
consulting firm that is nationally recognized for its expertise on grid
operations, energy security and infrastructure protection. ICF, whose clients
have included business customers and U.S. government agencies, concluded in its
Nov. 7, 2008, report that FPL did not violate reliability standards.

While FPL disagrees with the Office of Enforcement`s assertions regarding
potential violations of industry reliability standards and notes that in several
instances the standards are ambiguous and subjective, the company readily agreed
to implement several additional measures in areas such as training and enhanced
operating procedures to further strengthen the system against human error. The
company has already implemented most of these actions based on its own
post-incident assessment, demonstrating its commitment to industry-leading
reliability. 

Florida Power & Light Company

Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) is the largest electric utility in Florida
and one of the largest rate-regulated utilities in the United States. FPL serves
4.5 million customer accounts in Florida and is a leading employer in the state
with nearly 11,000 employees. The company consistently outperforms national
averages for service reliability while customer bills are among the very lowest
in the state and below the national average. A clean energy leader, FPL has one
of the lowest emissions profiles and the No. 1 energy efficiency program among
utilities nationwide. FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Fla.-based FPL Group,
Inc. (NYSE:FPL). For more information, visit www.FPL.com.

Florida Power & Light Co.
Mayco Villafana, 305-552-3888 

Copyright Business Wire 2009

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