NextEra Energy
What do our scores mean?
The organizational score represents the degree to which the organization influencing climate policy and legislation. Corporations also have relationship scores reflecting their links with influencers like trade associations. Both are combined to place the corporation in a performance band. Full details can be found here.
Engagement Intensity
The engagement intensity (EI) is a metric of the extent to which the company is engaging on climate change policy matters, whether positively or negatively. It is a number from 0 (no engagement at all) to 100 (full engagement on all queries/data points). Clearly energy companies are more affected by climate regulations and will have a higher EI than, for example retailers. So an organization’s score should be looked at in conjunction with this metric to gauge the amount of evidence we are using in each case as a basis for scoring. On our scale, an EI of more than 35 indicates a relatively large amount of climate policy engagement.
Relationship Score, December 2020
A new batch of industry associations has been uploaded onto the InfluenceMap system and the relationship scores recalculated accordingly.Â
Updated terminology, February 2021
We adjusted the terminology used to describe the queries running down the left-hand side of our scoring matrix and added additional explanatory text to the info-boxes. This has no impact on the scores and methodology. It has been done following user feedback to improve clarity.
- Details of Organization Score
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What do the 0,1,2 and NSs, NAs mean?
Each cell in the organization's matrix presents a chance for us to assess each data source against our column of climate change policy queries. We score from -2 to 2, with negative scores representing evidence of obstructive influence. "NA" means "not applicable" and "NS" means "not scored" - that is we did not find any evidence either way. In both cases, the cell's weighting is re-distributed over others. Red and blue cells represent highly interesting negative or positive influence respectively. Full details can be found here.
- Details of Relationship Score
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What is the Relationship Score
A corporation, as well as its organizational score will have a relationship score. It is computed by aggregating the organizational scores of the Influencers (trade bodies etc.) it has relationships with, weighted by both the strength of these relationships and the relative importance of the Influencers towards climate change policy. Full details can be found here.
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QUERIES
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DATA SOURCES | |||||||
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Main Web Site
The main organizational Web site of the company and its direct links to major affiliates and attached documents. |
Social Media
We search other media and sites funded or controlled by the organization, such as social media (Twitter, Facebook) and direct advertising campaigns of the organization. |
CDP Responses
We assess and score responses to two questions from CDP's climate change information request (12.3 a & 12.3c) related to political influence questions (currently these are not numerically scored by the CDP process). |
Legislative Consultations
Comments from the entity being scored on governmental regulatory consultation processes, including those obtained by InfluenceMap through Freedom of Information requests. |
Media Reports
Here we search in a consistent manner (the organization name and relevant query search terms) a set of web sites of representing reputable news or data aggregations. Supported by targeted searches of proprietary databases. |
CEO Messaging
Here we search in a consistent manner (the CEO/Chairman, organization name and relevant query search terms) a set of web sites of representing reputable news or data aggregations. Supported by targeted searches of proprietary databases. |
Financial Disclosures
We search 10-K and 20-F SEC filings where available, and non US equivalents where not. . |
EU Register
Information provided by to the voluntary EU Transparency Register. |
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Communication of Climate Science
Is the organization transparent and clear about its position on climate change science? |
1
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NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | NA |
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Alignment with IPCC on Climate Action
Is the organization supporting the science-based response to climate change as set out by the IPCC? (the IPCC) |
0
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NS | NA |
1
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NS | NS | NS | NA |
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Supporting the Need for Regulations
To what extent does the organization express the need for regulatory intervention to resolve the climate crisis? |
0
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NS | NS |
2
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NS |
1
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NS | NA |
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Support of UN Climate Process
Is the organization supporting the UN FCCC process on climate change? |
NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | NA |
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Transparency on Legislation
Is the organisation transparent about its positions on climate change legislation/policy and its activities to influence it? |
-2
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NA |
-2
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NA | NA | NA | NS | NA |
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Carbon Tax
Is the organisation supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: carbon tax. |
NS | NS | NS | NS |
1
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NS | NS | NA |
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Emissions Trading
Is the organisation supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: emissions trading. |
NS | NS | NS |
1
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1
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NS | NS | NA |
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Energy and Resource Efficiency
Is the organization supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: energy efficiency policy, standards, and targets |
NS | NS | NS |
1
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-1
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NS | NS | NA |
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Renewable Energy
Is the organization supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: Renewable energy legislation, targets, subsidies, and other policy |
1
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1
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NS |
0
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-1
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0
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1
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NA |
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Energy Transition & Zero Carbon Technologies
Is the organization supporting an IPCC-aligned transition of the economy away from carbon-emitting technologies, including supporting relevant policy and legislative measures to enable this transition? |
1
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0
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NS |
1
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0
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0
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1
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NA |
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GHG Emission Regulation
Is the organization supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: GHG emission standards and targets. Is the organization supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: Standards, targets, and other regulatory measures directly targeting Greenhouse Gas emissions |
NS |
2
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NS |
1
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2
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2
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NS | NA |
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Disclosure on Relationships
Is the organization transparent about its involvement with industry associations that are influencing climate policy, including the extent to which it is aligned with these groups on climate? |
0
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NS |
-2
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NA | NA | NA | NS | NS |
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
CEO of NextEra principal subsidiary Florida Power & Light Company is on the Chamber's board of directors.
Eric Silagy
Open PDF file of Data Source
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
CEO of NextEra principal subsidiary Florida Power & Light Company is on the Chamber's board of directors.
Eric Silagy
How to Read our Relationship Score Map
In this section, we depict graphically the relationships the corporation has with trade associations, federations, advocacy groups and other third parties who may be acting on their behalf to influence climate change policy. Each of the columns above represents one relationship the corporation appears to have with such a third party. In these columns, the top, dark section represents the strength of the relationship the corporation has with the influencer. For example if a corporation's senior executive also held a key role in the trade association, we would deem this to be a strong relationship and it would be on the far left of the chart above, with the weaker ones to the right. Click on these grey shaded upper sections for details of these relationships. The middle section contains a link to the organization score details of the influencer concerned, so you can see the details of its climate change policy influence. Click on the middle sections for for details of the trade associations. The lower section contains the organization score of that influencer, the lower the more negatively it is influencing climate policy.
NextEra Energy has communicated broadly supportive positions on policy action to tackle climate change. However, analysis of the group's engagement activities shows significant areas of misalignment, both internally among NextEra subsidiaries, and externally with its industry associations. Previous reporting by NextEra in 2016 recognized the need to act in line with the scientific consensus on climate change, including via federal regulation. More recent reporting from the company in 2017, 2018 and 2019 has not included a reference of support for wider action on climate change or the Paris Climate Agreement, despite including updates on the company's own GHG emission reduction efforts.
Before 2016, NextEra was supportive of the US EPA's authority to regulate GHG emissions from the power sector under the US Clean Power Plan. The company's advocacy has since appeared to focus on a 'market-based model' for reducing GHG emissions in conjunction with carbon pricing policy. NextEra has communicated a preference for carbon tax proposals but has also appeared accepting of cap and trade policies. In 2017, NextEra participated in a joint submission to the second review of The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), supporting the role of emissions trading policy in delivering the states' clean energy goals and advocating for its expansion. In 2020, the company joined a coalition requesting the US FERC to convene a conference to investigate integrating carbon pricing into US electricity markets.
NextEra's engagement with climate-motivated energy policy appears mixed. The company has supported some renewable energy legislation, including a federal Wind Production Tax Credit (PTC) and Hawaii's renewable portfolio standard of 100% by 2045. However, a principal subsidiary of NextEra Energy, Florida Power & Light, strongly opposed Florida policy on distributive solar generation in 2020, an effort that mirrors a similar campaign in 2016. Florida Power & Light also lobbied to significantly weaken energy efficiency standards in 2014 and 2020. NextEra did not disclose positions on two renewable energy bills in Florida that failed to pass the 2020 session, despite disclosing significant amounts on lobbying expenditures in the state.
NextEra Energy CEO Jim Robo has recently communicated a positive vision for the overall increase of renewable generated power in the US. The company has also previously run advertising campaigns to promote the electrification of transport. At the same time, the company appears supportive of a long-term role of natural gas in the energy mix, with Jim Robo explaining in 2019 that he considers natural gas pipelines "clean energy," while referring to protests against them as "surprising" in 2020. The company has previously taken a position against additional GHG emission standards on the US oil and gas sector. In 2020, in consultation feedback to a review of federal environmental permitting for energy projects, NextEra supported the inclusion of climate considerations but with several reservations, including the need for gas pipelines to still be considered favorably under such an analysis.
NextEra Energy retains a board-level position on the American Wind Energy Association, a group actively supporting an ambitious climate agenda in the US. However, the company also maintains memberships to various other groups that have taken more negative lines on US climate policy, including the Edison Electric Institute, Business Roundtable, and the Consumer Energy Alliance. The Consumer Energy Alliance is actively and negatively lobbying on critical US Climate and Energy Policy, such as the Transportation and Climate Initiative, and appears to be funding institutions producing misinformation on climate change. Of perhaps the most significant concern, however, is NextEra's board-level membership to the US Chamber of Commerce via its subsidiary Florida Power & Light. The US Chamber has successfully campaigned for the rollback of several key US climate policies since 2016.