Get Heard: Reject NextEra

An energy corporation from Florida called NextEra is pushing to take-over Hawai‘i's local utilities, including HECO, MECO, and HELCO. NextEra has a long track record in Florida of undermining customer interests and clean energy, including customer-focused solutions like roof-top solar and energy efficiency.Hawai‘i’s Public Utilities Commission is preparing to make a decision on whether to allow this take-over, but first they want to hear from all of us, the people of Hawai‘i.  Your opinion matters! Please get involved today.Here are some good reasons to Reject NextEra:

• Loss of local control:  NextEra is based in Florida, 4,851 miles from Hawai‘i.  It offered to establish a “local advisory board” but made clear that NextEra would retain the power to dictate all decisions, calling a proposal to establish a Hawai‘i-based board with actual power a “burdensome condition.”

• Loss in local workforce:  Corporate takeovers are all about cuts:  hundreds of local jobs stand to be lost once HECO is assimilated into NextEra. NextEra promises no involuntary job reductions for two years, but offers nothing after two years and mentions nothing about voluntary reductions, transfers, and filling vacant positions during the two years. In the short term, the 1,400 non-union employees will be a prime target for cuts; and the 1,400 union employees will be subject to attrition losses since almost half will be eligible for retirement by 2020.

• Political influence and lobbying:  NextEra is notorious for aggressively playing politics to benefit its business.  It spends millions on lobbying and campaign contributions and employs one lobbyist for every five members of the Florida state legislature.  NextEra is Florida's biggest corporate donor to Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign PAC, recently contributing $1 million.  Once, when the Florida utility commission refused to grant NextEra a huge rate increase, four of the five commissioners were fired within months.  They have already donated tens of thousands to 2014 and 2012 to elections in Hawai‘i.

• Not on board with 100% clean energy:  Although Hawai‘i has committed to achieving 100% renewable energy by 2045, NextEra is not with us.  It thinks this mandate “may prove to be very aggressive” and too difficult to meet.

• Anti-roof-top solar:  Only 1 in 1,400 of NextEra’s customers (0.07%) has rooftop solar, compared to 1 in 8 of HECO’s residential customers (12%) – a difference of 175 times.  NextEra eliminated its solar incentive programs and is fighting against expanding customer access to rooftop solar through leasing options.

• No clean energy expertise:  NextEra has little experience integrating renewable energy even in minimal amounts, let alone the highest levels of rooftop solar in the country.  NextEra’s utility business relies predominantly on fossil gas (68%) and nuclear energy (23%), with less than 1% from solar.  Hawai‘i has almost 30 times more total solar per capita than Florida, the Sunshine State (348 watts per capita in HI vs. 12 in FL).

• Florida not a leader in low rates:  Florida, where NextEra controls the energy market, has the 16^th highest rates in the nation, and the highest of the states in the region.

• No plan:  NextEra has repeatedly insisted that it will provide its plan for Hawai‘i only after the takeover is approved.  NextEra is either reckless for lacking any plan for a $4.3B transaction, or dishonest for hiding it – and extremely arrogant either way. Their PR statements, what the StarAdvertiser calls "hyperbolic assertions,” are not reflected in their actual application, so they won’t be able to be held accountable to them.

• Hides the ball:  NextEra objected repeatedly to discovery requests made by parties, demonstrated “a lack of transparency” according to the Consumer Advocate, and failed to disclose an $18B bid for another electric utility in Texas at the same time it is pursuing HECO.

• Anti-energy conservation:  NextEra aggressively opposes customers saving money through energy efficiency so that it can maximize its private profits.  NextEra recently fought to gut its modest energy efficiency goals by 99%.

• Anti-customer choice:  NextEra openly recognizes that giving customers choices to reduce their electric bills is bad for its bottom line.  Its old-fashioned, monopoly business depends on depriving customers of choices and keeping them captive and paying bills to NextEra.

• Anti-competition/market:  NextEra’s utility business is notorious for preventing market competition for lower power prices:  less than 2% of its power comes from competitive suppliers in the market.

• Nuclear and fracking:  NextEra engages in various risky ventures including huge investments in gas fracking ($500M/year) and nuclear plants ($20B and climbing), which pose serious environmental, health, and financial hazards.  Yet, NextEra bears none of the risk because it automatically passes the costs onto its Florida customers. Hawai‘i customers also could get stuck holding the bag when NextEra’s gambles fail.

• Government agencies know it is a bad deal:
  • “There is less clarity, commitment and accountability in this $4B dollar transaction than there is in the purchase of a used car.”  “If I am dissatisfied with my physician, I don't ask her to recommend another—let alone accept a successor she chose based on how much they paid her.”  --Scott Hempling, national industry expert on behalf of the Hawai‘i Office of Planning.
  • DBEDT is “underwhelmed by the lack of detail” in NextEra’s application, which is a “fatal flaw.”  --Mark Glick, DBEDT.
  • “NextEra has shown a lack of knowledge of and interest in the culture within which business operates in Hawaii.”  “The message that Hawaii needs to get from NextEra is this:  We know what matters most to you and we've got your back.…  [T]his is definitely not the message that Hawaii is currently hearing from NextEra.”  --Ian Hodges, on behalf of the Consumer Advocate.

• We have other options, like public ownership:  NextEra’s focus on private profits is not the only option for Hawai‘i.  The American Public Power Association documents that both cooperatives and publicly owned utilities offer lower retail electric rates on average than investor-owned utilities.  Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) shows that locally controlled, customer-focused utilities can successfully operate in Hawai‘i.  HECO pocketed $35M in profit last quarter, while KIUC returned $2M to its customers.   

• True Beneficiaries: HECO’s shareholders will benefit in the millions from an immediate buyout, and NextEra’s shareholders will benefit in the long-run from billions of profits generated off the backs of Hawaii rate-payers and taken out of the State.

Get even more information:StopNextEra.comHawaiiSolarVoices.orgKulolo.orgSIGN-UP![wufoo username="sierraclubhawaii" formhash="p69qje30vkbx84" autoresize="true" height="658" header="show" ssl="true"]