Gulf Power And Florida Power & Light Plan To Merge In 2022

April 23, 2020

Gulf Power and Florida Power & Light plan to merge in 2022, according to their parent company, NextEra Energy.

NextEra purchases Gulf Power from the Southern Company in January 2019, but the companies were not merged to operate as one.

NextEra has filed a document with the Florida Public Service Commission that “reflects the expectation that FPL and Gulf Power will begin to operate as an integrated electric system in 2022.”

“Since the Gulf Power acquisition closed in 2019, FPL and Gulf Power have been reviewing the potential benefits of merging into a single, larger Florida utility company. Based on this review, the companies expect that a merger will create both operational and financial benefits for customers. As a result, the companies plan to take additional steps to merge over the coming months,” a NextEra news release said.

FPL is the largest electric utility in the state with about five million customers. Gulf Power has about 470,000 customers in eight Florida Panhandle counties, including Escambia and Santa Rosa.

Comments

17 Responses to “Gulf Power And Florida Power & Light Plan To Merge In 2022”

  1. Sharon on April 28th, 2020 5:12 am

    I thought they already merged their billing department didn’t say

  2. fisherman on April 25th, 2020 8:07 am

    Gulf power and all utilities are only required to remove debris from the lines. If t trees are on your property you as the home owner are responsible for the removal. They will cut off what limbs that need to be cut and leave the rest for the home owner. If the trees are on the right away they will remove it all. They are not allowed to remove or cut trees on your property.As for clean up it usually takes a couple weeks for the debris to be picked up unless it’s on your property.

  3. Debbie on April 24th, 2020 7:23 pm

    Klondike Kid, I totally agree with you. We had storm damage from Sunday night
    and we had to call them several times before they would come out and cut a huge tree
    off of our power lines. They only cut the trees enough to clear the line. They left a lot
    of huge limbs hanging under the line. It is now Friday evening and they are still there nobody has come to move them. Gulf Power was such a good home town company. Next Era so far has been a nightmare !!! Unfortunately we are also
    one of the ones that have tried to fight the gas pipeline coming through our
    property. They are taking the right of way to one acre of our land to run a dangerous Gas pipe line. In the words of Ben Franklin,” For someone to take someone’s property
    without their consent is thievery!!!

  4. Klondike Kid on April 23rd, 2020 8:30 pm

    The Southern Company did the people of NW Florida no favor selling Gulf Power to Next Era Energy / FP&L . Ask any electrical contractor that has to deal with the power company now how bad it is. Most of the Gulf Power procedures went out the window along with many longstanding protocols that facilitated the Power Company’s interactions with contractors , inspectors & customers. I know for the Southern Company this was just a business decision , but for the people they served here , this will be an ongoing travesty.

  5. fisherman on April 23rd, 2020 5:26 pm

    @Lol
    I know that companies have operating expenses and the need to make a profit what I was trying to say is look at the profit margin of Gulf Power. I’am sure they could lower our power bills a few dollars and still make a profit. I could have made a better statement.

  6. Hummm on April 23rd, 2020 4:49 pm

    Well, all the GP haters are finally getting rid of GP….hope you like what’s coming! Maybe in hindsight later…you will think differently! But complainers always need something to complain about. Even recently we were told about a 40% reduction in May on our bills. And out of the woodworks came the naysayers hating GP for doing something good. GP folks knew this was going to happen when GP was sold to NextEra by Southern Co. It was a matter of time.

  7. Charlie on April 23rd, 2020 2:12 pm

    FPL has much lower prices, eventually Gulf customers will benefit from the economies of scale.

  8. JimBobEddie on April 23rd, 2020 2:09 pm

    G.P. is supposed to convert one of its generators to natural gas, from coal.

    In turn, that is supposed to lower our bills.

    I will keep an eye out.

  9. monopoly is bad on April 23rd, 2020 1:10 pm

    this will make it like some of our other providers in the state who form a monopoly on the market. They alone control the distribution, marketing and ultimately the price that consumers pay for their product(s) A monopoly NEVER works good for a customer. It’s like politics……..self-serving!

  10. J D on April 23rd, 2020 12:21 pm

    And the consumer loses again one way or another. Rather deal with just a Gulf Power.

  11. Alan on April 23rd, 2020 11:41 am

    Darrell, the answer is yes.

  12. Howie on April 23rd, 2020 10:56 am

    Pensacola’s power bill will most likely increase.

    Florida P&L has just raised it’s rates on Feb. 1.

    Read all about FPL in this news story : check it out >

    https://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-bz-cb-fpl-lowest-bills-20190201-story.html

    …………………………….

    Thank you for the heads up about this merger.

  13. np630ss on April 23rd, 2020 10:33 am

    I’ve had first hand dealings with FLP for nearly 10 years. There are 2 things you can expect after the merger. 1. Prices will go up. That is guaranteed. 2. Quality of service will go down, drastically.
    FPL knows they have you and act it out. We referred to them as Florida Plunder & Loot in Central FL.

  14. David on April 23rd, 2020 10:32 am

    The Gulf Power guys and gals are the most impressive hard working people in the whole house if I was asked
    They are quick,safe above all, and know the job
    Seen it time and time again…
    Hurrah for Gulf Power

  15. Lol on April 23rd, 2020 9:57 am

    Clearly fisherman has no idea the cost of running a co

  16. fisherman on April 23rd, 2020 7:46 am

    With Gulf Power 470,000 customers paying just $125.00 average bill per month that’s $58,750,000.00 a month now use that same figure with 5 million customers that’s a whopping $625,000,000.00 per month income. Now someone please tell me why we can’t have lower electric bills. I will tell you one reason is the investors make a 10% profit on their investment that’s why.I would like someone in the power company to explain why they can’t lower our bills by 5%.

  17. Darrell D Hall on April 23rd, 2020 7:17 am

    Does that mean Gulf Power will change its name to Florida Power & Light?