The employees and contractors rebuilding and "repowering" Florida Power & Light Company's Fort Myers power plant were awarded the highest safety honor the US Department of Labor bestows during a ceremony attended by approximately 1,000 crafts people and dignitaries.

The award, presented last week by OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) recognized the site for having exemplary safety management processes, as well as employees who are actively involved in safe work practices. Charlie Anderson, OSHA Atlanta assistant regional administrator, presented the award to craft representatives at the site.

"We are very proud of the recognition," Michael Pearce, FPL project manager said. "Credit is due in large measure to our construction management contractor Black & Veatch and numerous subcontractor trade groups who truly take pride in making safety the number one priority at our repowering site."

The repowering underway at the FPL plant is converting a 1950s oil-burning plant into a new, state-of the-art, natural gas-fired plant that will triple the electricity output to benefit reliability in Southwest Florida, and contribute to significantly cleaner air and reduced oil-barge traffic on local waterways. The repowering project, which began construction in November 1999, is due to be completed in mid-2002.

To date the Fort Myers repowering project has recorded 1,560,955 man-hours without a lost time injury. That record contributed to the OSHA Voluntary Protection Program Demonstration Star awarded to the site. This is the first OSHA Star recognition for an FPL site, the only Star construction site in Florida and one of less than 300 sites in the U.S.

As part of the awards ceremony, presentations also were made to all site contractors, organized labor trades and craftsmen recognizing them for their efforts in establishing best safety practices at the project site.

About Black & Veatch

Black & Veatch is a global engineering and construction firm specializing in the fields of energy, water and information technology. Black & Veatch provides complete engineering, procurement, construction, architectural, financial and management consulting services for utilities, industry and government agencies. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, the employee- owned company has more than 90 offices worldwide. For additional information visit http://www.bv.com/

About Florida Power & Light Company

Florida Power & Light Company is the principal subsidiary of FPL Group, Inc. , one of the nation's largest providers of electricity-related services with annual revenues of more than $7 billion. The company serves 3.9 million customer accounts in Florida. FPL Energy, LLC, FPL Group's U.S. and international energy-generating subsidiary, is a leader in producing electricity from clean and renewable fuels. Additional information is available on the Internet at www.fpl.com

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SOURCE: Florida Power & Light Company