WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Dec. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) today completed its first commercial energy-efficient streetlight installation project. Since October, FPL has installed 166 light-emitting diode (LED) streetlights in the City of West Palm Beach's Coleman Park neighborhood, located just north of downtown. Through 2014, the city plans to convert approximately 1,100 additional streetlights to LED technology in various neighborhoods.

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"These new lights are an investment that will improve the quality of life for West Palm Beach residents and save approximately $10,000 per year in maintenance and energy costs," said City of West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio during a celebration today marking the completion of the first phase of this project. "We plan to continue investing in these new streetlights to help save residents money, use more environmentally-friendly technology and provide brighter lighting."

LED lighting technology has changed substantially in recent years and the benefits compared to traditional sodium vapor technology include improved:

• Efficiency: LED lighting is more energy efficient, which offers cost savings of approximately 60 percent
• Appearance: LED lighting is whiter, brighter and more consistent
• Environmental benefits: LED lighting does not use mercury.

"We applaud the City of West Palm Beach for having the distinction of being the very first commercial customer of FPL to invest in advanced LED streetlight technology," said Manny Miranda, vice president of power delivery for FPL. "As the benefits become more widely known, we expect many more customers will seek to upgrade their streetlights to this advanced technology."

FPL delivers electricity to approximately 700,000 streetlights in Florida and provides maintenance to about 500,000 of them through separate agreements. Streetlights are owned by FPL or other entities such as the Florida Department of Transportation, municipalities or local homeowners associations.

Florida Power & Light Company
Florida Power & Light Company is the largest rate-regulated electric utility in Florida and serves the third-largest number of customers of any electric utility in the United States. FPL serves approximately 4.6 million customer accounts and is a leading Florida employer with approximately 10,000 employees as of year-end 2012. During the five-year period ended December 31, 2012, the company delivered the best service reliability among Florida investor-owned utilities. As of year-end 2012, its typical residential customer bills are the lowest in Florida, and based on data available in July 2012, are about 26 percent below the national average. A clean energy leader, FPL has one of the lowest emissions profiles and one of the leading energy efficiency programs among utilities nationwide. FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Fla.-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE). For more information, visit www.FPL.com.

SOURCE Florida Power & Light Company