Florida Power & Light Company on Monday presented its plan for meeting the electricity needs of its customers through 2011 -- a plan that includes increasing generating capacity by 32 percent over the next 10 years through the addition of new power resources for FPL's system.

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The plan was filed with the Florida Public Service Commission as part of the annual 10-year planning process by utilities in the state. Each year, Florida utilities look 10 years into the future at anticipated capacity resource needs to ensure that the electricity demand by customers will be met, including an additional "cushion" of 20 percent in reserve.

"Florida is one of the few states that has such a rigorous planning and reporting process on an annual basis," said FPL President Paul Evanson. "That's one of the key elements that sets us apart from states like California, New York and others that have experienced power supply shortages in recent years.

"We want to ensure our customers of an adequate, reliable and affordable supply of electricity when it's needed, and we are committed to ensuring that our new resources operate in the cleanest, most environmentally responsible manner possible. Furthermore, our goal is to manage these new additions without the need to increase prices to our customers. We have a great record of being able to do just that -- we've added more than $13 billion in new plants and facilities over the last 10 years without a price increase. We've actually decreased base rates during that time."

By adopting a 10-year planning process, Florida utilities are able to anticipate and provide adequate generating capacity to fulfill the need created by customer growth and usage.

FPL's plans for new capacity, including its Martin and Manatee expansion projects announced earlier this year, call for the use of natural gas technology in highly efficient combined-cycle generating units at existing power plant sites. As part of Florida's comprehensive requirements for adding new power generating plants under the Power Plant Siting Act, FPL recently filed a petition for a "need determination" for the Martin and Manatee projects with the Florida Public Service Commission. These two projects will add nearly 1,900 megawatts of new generating capacity to the FPL system in 2005. A comprehensive evaluation of purchase power proposals received from other companies showed that expansion at existing FPL sites was the most cost- effective option for FPL customers and represented the best balance of economic and environmental considerations.

FPL currently is completing repowering projects at Fort Myers and Sanford power plants and is adding peaking units at Fort Myers. These projects, scheduled for commercial operation this year and 2003, add another 2,350 megawatts to FPL's system.

FPL's recent studies have identified new gas-fired combined cycle units as the generally preferred option to meet future load growth. However, repowering of existing FPL oil-fired plants remains an alternative. Identified in the 10-year plan as among the next most likely potential sites for future generation are the Cape Canaveral plant in Brevard County, the Riviera plant in Palm Beach County, the Port Everglades plant in Broward County and the Midway substation property in St. Lucie County.

Repowering means converting older oil-fired plants to natural gas-fired, combined-cycle technology to increase efficiency and power output while decreasing system emissions. Peaking units add more power for short timeframes to quickly supply high customer demand on very cold winter or hot summer days.

Other projects forecast in the 10-year planning document to meet future customer growth and increased use beyond 2006 call for the equivalent of 1,100-megawatt generating plant additions, at as yet unsited locations, in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011. FPL will utilize the competitive bidding process to identify the least-cost option to meet the needs of its customers when adding new capacity. FPL will consider entering firm purchase power contracts with other generating companies, building new plants, repowering existing plants and developing conservation and demand side management programs as part of the new resource mix.

Florida Power & Light Company is the principal subsidiary of FPL Group, Inc. , nationally known as a high quality, efficient and customer- driven organization focused on energy-related products and services. With annual revenues of more than $8 billion and a growing presence in more than a dozen states, FPL Group is widely recognized as one of the country's premier power companies. Florida Power & Light Company serves approximately 3.9 million customer accounts in Florida. FPL Energy, Inc., FPL Group's 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, www.fplgroup.com and www.fplenergy.com.

                    FPL Capacity Expansion Fact Sheet
         (generation expansion - 2002 to 2012 as of April 1 2002)

  FPL Power Plant Site         Incremental     Available/Year
                                Capacity      In Service (summer)
                                Additions(1)

  Sanford Repowering (Unit 5)      575 mw        mid-2002
  Sanford Repowering (Unit 4)      575 mw        mid-2003
  Fort Myers Peaking Units (2)     300 mw            2003
  Martin CC Expansion
   (Conversion)                    800 mw        mid-2005
  Manatee CC Expansion           1,100 mw        mid-2005
  Unsited                        1,100 mw            2007
  Unsited                        1,100 mw            2009
  Unsited                        1,100 mw            2010
  Unsited                        1,100 mw            2011
  New generation thru 2011          7,750
  Total net capacity thru 2011   6,500 mw       (serves 1.4 million accts)

(1) all numbers are approximate and are incremental to 2001 summer capacity values.

(2) "total net" reflects the effect of new and expiring purchase power agreements. For the purposes of FPL's plans through 2011, it is assumed that FPL will build new generation to replace purchases whose contracts end. However, other alternatives including repowering existing FPL plants or making new power purchases may be considered.

  FPL has brought the following projects into service -- 1990s to present:
 (all numbers are approximate incremental additions)

  * Fort Myers repowering (2002) added 900 megawatts
  * Martin peaking units (2001) added 320 megawatts
  * Martin CC Unit 3 (1994) added 475 megawatts
  * Martin CC Unit 4 (1994) added 475 megawatts
  * Fort Launderdale repowering (1993) added 600 megawatts
  * Purchase of Scherer Unit 4 (1995) added 650 megawatts

* FPL's conservation and energy management programs in the past two decades have deferred about 3,100 megawatts, the equivalent of nine power plants.

FPL also uses firm purchased power in its mix of resources, which equates to approximately 15.5 percent of total capacity resources.

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SOURCE: Florida Power & Light Company