NextEra Energy has agreed to pay $150 million to settle allegations that the company lied about its involvement in political interference schemes in Florida, according to a proposed settlement filed Monday in a federal court.
The agreement comes about a month after NextEra and Dominion Energy said they planned to merge in a $67 billion deal. If approved, the merger would create the world’s largest electric utility company, with about 10 million utility accounts in Florida, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
The political scandal surrounding Florida Power and Light, a NextEra subsidiary, will likely be an issue as Virginia utility regulators review the proposed transaction.
“NextEra … has been connected to election manipulation, surveillance of journalists, co-optation of civil rights organizations and the use of dark money networks to capture regulators and defeat energy competition,” Clean Virginia, an advocacy group focused on political and utility regulation reform, said after the merger was announced.
NextEra noted in an April 23 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it had reached an agreement in March to pay $150 million to settle the shareholder lawsuit, but that the details needed to be worked out. Insurance will cover the payout, the company said.
Some of the allegations against NextEra include using a political consulting firm to fund “ghost” candidates to defeat state lawmakers deemed a threat to Florida Power & Light and spying on a reporter.
The settlement is the largest settlement of a securities class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida since the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 became law, according to the agreement.
