How it started
History
Early power stations in Florida were primarily used to manufacture ice and sell excess power during off-hours from manufacturing. By the 1920s, demand for power had grown sufficiently that the excess power produced by the ice plants no longer met the need. During 1924–1925, American Power & Light (APL) purchased power stations in Florida and connected them to provide more consistent power in the network. In December 1925, APL spun off its Florida properties into a new subsidiary, FPL, to replace the Miami Beach Electric Company. The following year, a hurricane hit Miami, damaging much of the electrical infrastructure. APL paid to repair the damage and build two new power stations. By early 1927, FPL had 115,000 customers.
1950-2009
The company continued to expand its customer base and generating power, and in 1950 became independently listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, FPL built new power stations, including Florida's first nuclear power plant at Turkey Point, which began operation in October 1972. The company launched the Watt-Wise home energy audit program in 1978, designed to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy demand during peak demand.
In 1984, FPL created the holding company FPL Group for acquisitions and the creation of companies. FPL became the first non-Japanese company to win the Deming Prize for quality in 1989.
In 1990, FPL Group began expanding its reach beyond Florida, purchasing a majority stake in a Georgia Power generation facility that year. Over the course of the next two decades, FPL expanded into the southern and eastern United States, creating a new holding group in 1998, FPL Energy, to manage the company's efforts in electricity markets outside of FPL's service area. It acquired a controlling stake in New Hampshire's Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant in 2002 and acquired Texas-based Gexa Energy in 2005. The company also launched the telecommunications subsidiary FPL FiberNet during this time. FPL's customer base reached 4 million in 2002.
From Wikipedia’s article on Florida Power & Light, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2