Florida Power & Light Company today announced capacity plans for its customers are well within the guidelines offered by the Bush administration's new energy policy. FPL confirmed the availability of an adequate supply of electricity to meet the growing energy demands of its customers, now and well into the future. FPL is adding electricity generation, emphasizing clean energy and the use of a diverse array of fuels, promoting energy management and conservation, and adding more high-voltage transmission lines.

FPL projects a 20 percent reserve margin for summer 2001, up from 15 percent a year ago. The company recently added 1,200 megawatts of new generating capacity, or enough to power 280,000 additional homes and businesses.

A reserve margin is the difference between a system's capability to provide electricity and the peak demand for power during a specific period. Reserves provide a power supply margin to account for scheduled plant maintenance and peak electricity usage during weather extremes, barring unplanned plant outages. The 20 percent reserve margin will help meet the peak demand for power during specific periods of extreme weather.

Power Plant Expansion

FPL will add 2,500 megawatts at projects currently under way at Fort Myers, Sanford and Martin plants over the next three years. Over the next 10 years FPL expects to add a total of nearly 7,000 megawatts of new capacity, a 40 percent increase over current generation. That's enough power to provide electricity to nearly 1.5 million homes.

Top Performing Power Plants

"FPL has added confidence in its ability to provide adequate power based on the superior operating skills at its power plants. For example, last year fossil plant availability was at 95 percent and nuclear plant availability was at 93 percent. Plus, our diagnostics center is able to monitor plants, direct preventive maintenance, recognize best practices and share these among facilities," Evanson said. "FPL combines the superior operating skills of an experienced, well-trained work force with investments in the latest technology to make reliability of power one of the best in the business," he said.

As part of its power plant mix, the company operates a diversified power plant fleet and focuses its efforts on clean energy generation. For example, more than half of FPL's power sources are clean natural gas and nuclear energy. Power plants not only meet environmental guidelines, but exceed them.

Approximately 25 percent of the electricity produced by FPL comes from its top performing nuclear plants. The company has requested an extension of its license to operate Turkey Point and expects to take similar action for St. Lucie in 2002.

FPL has significantly reduced emissions during the past decade and continues its efforts, including re-powering existing oil-fired plants to use clean, natural gas. The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation have recognized FPL as one of the cleanest electric companies in the country. Further, FPL produces the least amount of nitrous oxides and carbon dioxide per megawatt hour of electricity generated.

Energy Management Programs

FPL also is a leader in promoting energy conservation and management. The company offers a voluntary program, called On-Call, to residential and commercial/industrial customers that enables the company to reduce their use of electricity when necessary.

"Energy management programs are designed for the long-term as a resource, just like power plants. The customer programs provide the utility the option of reducing peaks and leveling out demand as needed, thus providing an alternative to building a power plant to meet high usage for a few hours or a few days a year," said Paul Evanson, president of FPL. "It makes good environmental as well as good business sense to provide an On-Call program that allows an option to physically install a device on water heaters, air conditioners, and pool pumps. These appliances can then be periodically cycled-off for a few minutes during peak energy use periods, such as an extremely hot, summer afternoon, further ensuring that there is plenty of electricity to meet the demand," Evanson said.

Residents and businesses participating in On-Call receive a monthly credit on their electric bill. Unlike general conservation programs that depend on voluntary actions to initiate reductions in power use, On-Call is pre-arranged with the customer and used only when needed. FPL reports that enough energy has been saved over the years through these measures to defer the need to build approximately three mid-size power plants.

Energy Conservation

FPL combines On-Call, with voluntary, incentive-based energy conservation programs. Through participation in energy conservation, customers have voluntarily reduced energy usage equal to four additional power plants. These voluntary programs that help customers conserve energy and save money include Watt Saver rebate certificates for air conditioning ductwork repair, installation of ceiling insulation, and upgrades to energy-efficient air conditioning systems.

To help reduce electric bills, FPL recommends customers:

* Set the thermostat no lower than 78 degrees Fahrenheit during the summer.

   * Use ceiling fans in occupied rooms and adjust the a/c thermostat to
   80 degrees Fahrenheit to save even more.

* Set the water heater temperature to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, making sure the power to the appliance is off first.

   * Clean refrigerator condenser coils yearly.
   * Set the refrigerator temperature to between 38 - 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

* Keep the refrigerator's freezer as full as possible so that the freezer doesn't have to work as hard.

* Weather-strip doors, windows, and around wall-mounted air conditioners.

* Caulk between siding and windows and doorframes and beneath windowsills.

In addition, FPL offers free, home energy surveys as well as low-cost air conditioning duct tests to help customers identify leaks in their air conditioning ductwork.

FPL Group, with annual revenues of more than $7 billion, is one of the nation's largest providers of electricity-related services. FPL Group's principal subsidiary is Florida Power & Light Company, one of the nation's largest electric utilities, serving approximately 3.9 million customer accounts in Florida. Additional information is available on the Internet at http://www.fplgroup.com/ and http://www.fpl.com/.

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SOURCE: Florida Power & Light Company