Advocates Urge NextEra to Provide Annual Report on Sea Level Rise Risks
Florida Operations and Facilities Vulnerable
Contact: Jennifer Rennicks, SACE, [email protected], 865-235-1448
Oklahoma City, OK, (May 18, 2016) – NextEra, the parent company of Florida Power & Light (FPL), hosts its annual meeting tomorrow in Oklahoma City, OK. Attendees will consider Shareholder Proposal 7: Sea Level Rise Risk Report.
The proposal, put forward by Alan Farago and Lisa Versaci, asks NextEra’s Board of Directors to provide an annual report on the risks that sea level rise projections pose to operations, facilities and markets.
According to a recent study by Dr. Keqi Zhang, Professor in the Department of Earth and Environment at Florida International University, more than 10 percent of land in Miami-Dade County sits at less than 1 foot above current sea level, nearly 20 percent at less than 2 feet, and one-fourth at less than three feet
Given Florida’s vulnerabilities in the face of sea level rise and other climate impacts, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy has issued a statement of support for the proposal found here and SACE’s Florida Director, Susan Glickman issued this statement:
“Given that Florida Power & Light (FPL) – a rate-regulated electric utility, which supplies electric service to approximately 4.8 million customer accounts throughout most of the east and lower west coasts of Florida – is a wholly owned subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc., there is an imperative for the Company to plan for future risk associated with sea level rise and other climate impacts that Florida is likely to see.
Florida is the most vulnerable state to sea-level rise in the United States and Miami has the largest amount of exposed assets and the fourth-largest population vulnerable to sea-level rise in the world. With climate impacts such as flooding already being seen, NextEra simply cannot ignore the risks. We strongly urge fellow shareholders and the Board to adopt Shareholder Proposal 7 for Sea Level Rise Risk Report.”
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Founded in 1985, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is a nonprofit organization that promotes responsible energy choices that work to address the impacts of global climate change and ensure clean, safe, and healthy communities throughout the Southeast. Learn more at www.cleanenergy.org