FPL Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lew Hay today pledged FPL Group's corporate-wide support in participating as a charter partner in the Environmental Protection Agency's new voluntary Climate Leaders program aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010621/FPLLOGO )

Mr. Hay joined Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, EPA Administrator, and industry leaders today in Washington for the kickoff of the EPA program that will begin by inventorying six greenhouse gasses produced by fossil fuel- burning facilities and other greenhouse gas contributors.

"FPL Group is an industry leader in using clean fuels such as natural gas, nuclear, wind, hydro and solar to generate electricity. Over the past decade, we voluntarily have made significant reductions in plant emissions, and today we're among the lowest emitters of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide in the industry. Partnering with the EPA in Climate Leaders is an important next step for FPL Group to take along our journey to assess and reduce emissions at our power plants in Florida and throughout the country," Mr. Hay said.

FPL has been recognized as one of the cleanest generators of electricity in Florida and the U.S. FPL's rate of emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide, one of the major greenhouse gasses being addressed, are significantly below the national and state averages and put FPL among the lowest emitters in the industry.

As a participant since 1994 in the Department of Energy's Global Climate Challenge program aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, FPL has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions rate by 12 percent.

As a further example of FPL's total emissions reduction efforts, within the past ten years, FPL-operated power plants in Florida have reduced the emission rate of sulfur dioxide by 28 percent and nitrogen oxide by 41 percent. These numbers will be reduced even further when the full benefit of repowering efforts now under way at Fort Myers and Sanford power plants are achieved by the start of 2003.

Repowering, first initiated at FPL's Fort Lauderdale power plant in 1994, consists of replacing older, less efficient oil-fired electric generating equipment with modern and extremely efficient natural gas-fired combined cycle technology that increases plant electricity output while very significantly decreasing emissions.

Mr. Hay said, "We believe the Climate Leaders program will result in long- term and real environmental improvements while preserving the economic viability of U.S. industry. America deserves out best efforts to achieve both goals, and we believe this effort is a significant next step in the right direction."

FPL Group, with annual revenues of more than $8 billion, is nationally known as a high-quality, efficient and customer-driven organization focused on energy-related products and services. With a growing presence in more than a dozen states, it is widely recognized as one of the country's premier power companies. Its principal subsidiary, Florida Power & Light Company, serves approximately 3.9 million customer accounts in Florida. FPL Energy, LLC, an FPL Group energy-generating subsidiary, is a leader in producing electricity from clean and renewable fuels. Additional information is available on the Internet at http://www.fplgroup.com/, http://www.fpl.com/ and http://www.fplenergy.com/ .

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SOURCE: FPL Group