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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Environment
Mario Alejandro Ariza and Miranda Green for Floodlight and Annie Martin for Orlando Sentinel

Leaked: US power companies secretly spending millions to protect profits and fight clean energy

Energy poles by Florida Power and Light from Turkey Point nuclear generating station in Miami, Florida.
Energy poles by Florida Power and Light from Turkey Point nuclear generating station in Miami, Florida. Photograph: Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg 5+/Alamy

The CEO of the biggest power company in the US had a problem. A Democratic state senator was proposing a law that could cut into Florida Power & Light’s (FPL) profits. Landlords would be able to sell cheap rooftop solar power directly to their tenants – bypassing FPL and its monopoly on electricity.

“I want you to make his life a living hell … seriously,” FPL’s CEO Eric Silagy wrote in a 2019 email to two of his vice-presidents about state Senator José Javier Rodríguez, who proposed the legislation.

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