FPL and its customers help replant Myakka State Forest in Sarasota County

JUNO BEACH, Fla., April 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) today announced that it will contribute $1 to The Arbor Day Foundation for every FPL customer who enrolls in E-Mail Bill, the utility's paperless billing program, in April. FPL will contribute up to $10,000, and for each dollar, The Arbor Day Foundation will plant one tree in the Myakka State Forest, an ecological preserve on Florida's west coast.

"FPL is committed to protecting the environment and has several programs in place to assist with protecting Florida's treasured wetlands and wildlife," said Vice President of Customer Service Marlene Santos. "We believe that FPL's E-Mail Bill program provides yet another opportunity to further protect the environment by reducing paper waste. We encourage our customers to join us in celebrating Arbor Day by enrolling in FPL's paperless billing program and helping replant one of our state's natural treasures."

FPL is committed to protecting trees and the environment while providing service reliability that is better than 99.98 percent. The Arbor Day Foundation recently designated FPL as a Tree Line USA utility for twelve consecutive years, recognizing FPL's efforts to protect and enhance community forests and utilize best practices in its line clearing program. While trees and vegetation make our communities beautiful and provide other environmental benefits, they are also a leading cause of power outages. FPL customers can help reduce power outages for them and their neighbors by planting trees far away from power lines.

FPL reminds its customers to follow these tips when working outdoors this Arbor Day, and every day:

• Keep tools and equipment more than 10 feet away from neighborhood overhead power lines and at least 35 feet from larger high-voltage overhead lines;
• Always hire qualified professionals to trim trees near overhead power lines;
• Call 911 and 1-800-4OUTAGE (1-800-468-8243) immediately if an overhead power line is down or looks hazardous;
• Call 811 at least two full business days before beginning any project that requires digging, including planting trees, to have underground utility lines marked;
• Plant trees so their canopies at maturity are at least 10 feet from overhead power lines; and
• Professionally remove trees that may become a problem.
• Additional safety and tree-planting tips are available at FPL.com/safety and FPL.com/trees.

Florida Power & Light Company
Florida Power & Light Company is the largest rate-regulated electric utility in Florida and serves the third-largest number of customers of any electric utility in the United States. FPL serves approximately 4.7 million customer accounts and is a leading Florida employer with approximately 8,900 employees as of year-end 2013. FPL's typical 1,000-kWh residential bill is the lowest among reporting electric utilities in Florida as of year-end 2013, and based on data available in July 2013, is about 28 percent below the national average. A clean energy leader, FPL has one of the lowest emissions profiles and one of the leading energy efficiency programs among utilities nationwide. FPL delivered better than 99.98 percent service reliability as of year-end 2013. FPL has earned the national ServiceOne Award for outstanding customer service for an unprecedented 10 consecutive years. FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Fla.-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE). For more information, visit www.FPL.com.

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SOURCE Florida Power & Light Company