Environmental Stewardship

Clean energy | We've been honored for our environmental stewardship | Responsible solutions & reliable energy in action | Clearing the air | Protecting water resources | Corporate Recycling and Services | Bird and bat issues

To ensure the growing demand for power is met in the most environmentally responsible manner, FPL Energy is committed to

• promoting the generation of clean energy through the use of clean-burning fuels and renewable resources
• employing "best-in-class" emission control technologies on our fossil fuel plants to minimize environmental impacts
• minimizing impacts to local

• ground water
• surface water
• vegetation
• fisheries and
• wildlife, and
• incorporating environmental protection and stewardship into the design, construction, operation and maintenance of all of our facilities.

Clean energy

We are the nation's leading developer, builder and operator of wind energy generation facilities. We also operate the world's largest solar fields. We derive more than 90 percent of the energy we generate from clean and/or renewable fuels, such as

• natural gas
• nuclear power
• wind power
• solar energy and
• water power.

We've been honored for our environmental stewardship

Business, industry and governmental organizations have acknowledged the environmental accomplishments of FPL Group, of which we are an integral part, including the following:

• FPL Group received a No. 1 ranking for environmental performance among 23 electric utilities for the fourth straight time from Innovest, an internationally recognized research firm.
• In January 2005, FPL Group was named one of the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World by Corporate Knights, Inc., a Canadian media company. Chosen from a universe of 2,000 of the world’s largest corporations, FPL Group was cited for the honor after achieving a sustainability performance that places it within the top five percent of its sector.
• As part of the EPA’s Climate Leader Program, FPL Group committed to achieve an 18 percent reduction in emissions rates of greenhouse gases by 2008 compared to a 2001 baseline.
• FPL Group is also the largest U.S. power company to have joined World Wildlife Fund’s Powerswitch! Pioneers program in which it intends to continue its successful demand reduction programs and achieve a 15 percent improvement in energy generation through the addition of more power plants and the investment in wind power and other renewable energy sources.
• In 2005, FPL Energy received the Outstanding Stewardship of America's Rivers Award from the National Hydropower Association for our efforts in Maine.

Responsible solutions & reliable energy in action

Within FPL Energy and throughout FPL Group as a whole, our environmental advocacy extends to each employee:

• We make it our responsibility to restore and maintain the natural environment surrounding our facilities and elsewhere.
• We plan and rehearse our response to environmentally-related emergencies.
• FPL Group's environmental auditors scrutinize processes, communications and training methods to identify opportunities for improvement, which:

• reinforce our air, water and waste recycling programs
• update employees on the latest hazardous waste management techniques, and
• encourage employees to communicate about environmental issues with each other and with the community.
• As part of the process of permitting or relicensing some of our power plants, we've donated land to governments and implemented a number of innovative programs to aid local conservation and recreational activities.

Clearing the air

FPL Group is among the nation's top generating utilities, yet we are one of the cleanest, too, producing some of the lowest levels of nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour of electricity.

The majority of FPL Energy plants that do not use renewable fuel sources, like wind, sun or water, use natural gas -- the cleanest burning fossil fuel available. Where possible, we pair this with combined-cycle technology, which uses waste heat to drive an additional power generator for increased energy efficiency and lower emissions than conventional fossil-fueled units. In addition, we have incorporated clean nuclear energy into our fuel mix through the addition of the Seabrook Station in New Hampshire and the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa. Nuclear power plants produce virtually no air emissions during operation.

More than 90 percent of FPL Energy's generation capacity uses clean fuels and renewable resources such as wind power, hydroelectric power and solar energy. In fact, FPL Energy is the world's largest developer of wind energy in the U.S. and operates the largest solar fields in the world.

Protecting water resources

We are committed to protecting water supplies upon which our natural gas-fired power plants rely for cooling. Our parent company, FPL Group, received the 2001 Environmental Achievement Award from the Florida Ocean Alliance (FOA) for our innovative energy management programs. The FOA's mission is to protect and enhance ocean resources.

FPL Group also received Edison Electric Institute's top award for outstanding achievements in land management and environmental stewardship activities in 2001. This award recognizes the wetlands mitigation bank and crocodile protection and research program at one of our primary Florida facilities.

At our FPL Energy facilities in Maine, we manage river flows to meet the habitat needs of fish species. We also manage water levels for fish spawning, loon nesting and access by the public to water recreation areas.

Our Bellingham Energy Center in Massachusetts and the Doswell Energy Center in Virginia are known as "zero discharge" facilities. This means we re-use all industrial wastewater, preserving the quality of our rivers, lakes and streams.

FPL Energy's environmental efforts also have been recognized by numerous agencies and organizations, including the National Hydropower Association, which named us to receive its Outstanding Stewardship of America's Rivers Award.

Corporate Recycling and Services

FPL Group received the Recycling Hall of Fame Award from the Solid Waste Association of North America and the Waste Wise Award from the Environmental Protection Agency. We recycle, reuse, refurbish and reduce more than 100 types of waste products at more than 65 FPL Group facilities.

In 2004 alone, FPL Group recycled

• 429 tons of office paper and cardboard
• 13,000 tons of scrap wood for landscaping
• 3,000 tons of waste porcelain and concrete, and
• 14,400 tons of metals.

Bird and bat issues

In supporting clean energy, we are committed to conducting our business activities in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. We incorporate environmental protection and stewardship into the design, construction, operation and maintenance of our facilities. Unfortunately, birds and bats can — and sometimes do — collide with wind turbine structures.

We care about the potential impacts that wind facilities might have on birds and bats. Although wind turbines present small relative risk to flying animals, our personnel take actions to assess – and reduce when possible – the risk to these creatures. In addition, our interest in our wind facilities’ impact on birds and bats does not end after project siting and construction, but continues into the operational phase of the projects through involvement in research efforts.

Wind turbines present small relative risk to birds

In consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, FPL Energy has learned that wind turbines pose a very low risk to bird populations, accounting for about 30,000 fatalities per year. Birds face a much higher degree of risk from other sources:

• buildings & windows — up to 980 million
• house cats — up to 100 million
• vehicles — up to 80 million
• pesticides — up to 67 million
• communication towers — up to 50 million.

(Source: National Wind Coordinating Committee and Western Ecosystems Technology Inc.)

Actions to assess

At locations where FPL Energy plans to build wind turbines, an environmental review is conducted in which many factors are considered, including the potential interaction of wind turbines with birds and bats. Sites considered for purchase must also have a risk assessment for review, and our environmental staff must be satisfied with the assessment before proceeding with the acquisition.

As part of facility siting and pre-construction activities, evaluations help uncover potential issues related to birds and bats and the selected site. Our environmental specialists and consultants gather the following information on birds and bats relating to the candidate site:

• current use of the site, including migratory patterns
• threatened and endangered species occurring in the area
• existing literature on species in the area
• bird/bat habitat
• potential risks
• recommendations for studies and
• interviews with agencies and environmental organizations.

In addition, we assess any nearby wetlands and determine state/local permit requirements relating to environmental protection. We avoid or minimize impacts to wetlands – a common habitat for many species of birds – and other environmentally sensitive areas during siting and layout of the project.

Through these efforts, we help to identify the

• number and type of birds/bats present at a proposed site
• behavior of birds/bats while they are present at a project site and
• possible risk to birds/bats due to turbine collisions.

If issues are identified during the evaluation phase, we take corrective action, such as

• modifying turbine layouts to avoid wetlands
• establishing set-backs
• reducing potential for raptor collision by utilizing best available data
• avoiding inter-waterway flight paths or sensitive contiguous habitats for grassland birds and
• moving individual turbine locations to reduce potential collisions.

Research efforts

We have established technical review committees to monitor and address avian issues and implemented post-construction studies to gather more information on the effects of wind on wildlife. Some of the recent studies conducted at our wind sites across the U.S. include the following:

In addition, FPL Energy has joined a group called the Bat and Wind Energy Cooperative (BWEC). Others in this group include the American Wind Energy Association, Bat Conservation International, the Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The goal of this three-year collaborative effort is to develop methods to reduce impacts of wind turbines to bat species.

For more information

Explore our list of frequently asked questions on bird and bat issues.