MIAMI -- Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) - one of the state’s largest employers - in partnership with Florida International University (FIU), is more than doubling the size of FPL’s FIU on-campus Customer Care Center. The expansion brings even more professional development opportunities for students and provides FPL with a pipeline of talent.
The FPL-FIU Student Partnership Program, which first opened in 2010, was designed to provide hands-on development and immediate career opportunities for FIU students by employing students part-time as customer service representatives at the FIU-based customer care center.
“For more than nine years, FIU students have been gaining valuable work experience through this program while helping us provide excellent customer service,” said FPL Vice President of Customer Service Christopher Chapel. “We value our partnership with the university – it’s good for the school, great for the students, and good for FPL and the community.”
This year, the on-campus call center capacity is more than doubling as a result of the program’s success and continued growth, creating a need for expansion. The new center will accommodate 90 part-time student representatives compared to the original 20 when the innovative partnership first opened. By 2023, FPL projects to have close to 120 student representatives in the center.
The new expanded center was unveiled today by FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg and FPL Vice President of Customer Service Christopher Chapel at the university’s Modesto Maidique campus, where attendees took part in a special ceremony and received a welcome tour of the expanded Customer Care Center.
Since its inception, the FPL-FIU Student Partnership Program has employed 329 part-time student representatives, providing talent to help FPL continue to grow as a technology company that delivers affordable, reliable, clean electricity to its customers. Approximately 122 student representatives have moved into permanent positions and 61 currently work at FPL in positions ranging from supervisors to engineers.
FPL’s parent company, NextEra Energy, Inc., employs more than 850 FIU alumni – more than any other institute of higher learning.
Florida Power & Light Company
Florida Power & Light Company is the largest energy company in the United States as measured by retail electricity produced and sold, serving more than 5 million customer accounts or an estimated 10 million+ people across the state of Florida. FPL's typical 1,000-kWh residential customer bill is approximately 30 percent lower than the latest national average and among the lowest in the U.S. FPL's service reliability is better than 99.98 percent, and its highly fuel-efficient power plant fleet is one of the cleanest among all electric companies nationwide. The company was recognized in 2018 as one of the most trusted U.S. electric utilities by Market Strategies International for the fifth consecutive year. A leading Florida employer with approximately 8,700 employees, FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), a clean energy company widely recognized for its efforts in sustainability, ethics and diversity, and has been ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry in Fortune's 2019 list of "World's Most Admired Companies." NextEra Energy is also the parent company of Gulf Power Company, which serves more than 460,000 customers in eight counties throughout Northwest Florida, and NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. For more information about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, www.GulfPower.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.
About FIU:
Florida International University is Miami’s public research university and in less than five decades has become a top 100 public university, according to U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges. FIU is focused on student success and research excellence, with nearly $200 million in annual research expenditures. The Next Horizon fundraising campaign is furthering FIU’s commitment to providing students Worlds Ahead opportunities. Today FIU has two campuses and multiple centers, including sites in Qingdao and Tianjin, China, and supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA, with more than 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. The university has awarded more than 330,000 degrees to many leaders in South Florida and beyond. For more information about FIU, visit www.fiu.edu