FPL and a NextEra unit gave Florida's GOP $6.25 million in six weeks

Four checks in six weeks

FPL and NextEra Energy Capital Holdings, the finance arm of the Juno Beach company John Ketchum runs, gave Florida's Republican Party $6.25 million in six weeks this fall. The party's pick for governor, Byron Donalds, won on Nov. 3.

Why it matters: FPL sells power to about 12 million people in Florida, NextEra says, and a state board sets its rates. The governor fills seats on that board from a list a panel draws up, and the Senate must agree.

The story so far: Donalds beat Democrat David Jolly on Nov. 3, in a race the AP called that night. Jolly had promised a year-long statewide moratorium on building data centers. The parties' final donor reports before the vote were filed Oct. 31, Seeking Rents reported.

The checks

FPL wrote the first check, $1.5 million on Sept. 11, the party's report shows. It is FPL's only gift to the party since July 1. NextEra Energy Capital Holdings, NextEra's finance arm, wrote the next three: $1.75 million on Sept. 29, $1.5 million on Oct. 15 and $1.5 million on Oct. 21.

That is $6.25 million in 40 days, by our arithmetic. Counting a $100,000 check from the NextEra unit on July 14, the party got $6.35 million from the two companies since July 1.

Seeking Rents, Jason Garcia's Florida politics newsletter, also reported the $6.25 million to the party. It called NextEra "by a wide margin" the biggest corporate donor to Florida's political parties this fall. It said the party was "behind a lot of the ads promoting Donalds" and two other Republicans on the statewide ballot.

The NextEra unit is wholly owned by NextEra Energy. It funds all of NextEra's operating companies other than FPL, a NextEra filing with the SEC says.

The other party money

After the Aug. 18 primary, the NextEra unit also gave the Florida House Republican Campaign Committee $250,000 three times, on Aug. 31, Sept. 22 and Oct. 13. It gave the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee $275,000 in four checks from Aug. 28 to Sept. 29. FPL added a $3,121 in-kind gift for travel on Oct. 5.

Democrats got less. Since July 1 the two companies gave Democratic party committees $350,000, by our sum, all but $50,000 of it in July. The only gift after the primary was $50,000 from the NextEra unit to the Florida Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee on Oct. 21.

Earlier, the NextEra unit gave Friends of Byron Donalds, a political committee, $500,000 on Dec. 19, 2025 and $500,000 on Feb. 19, 2026. Seeking Rents reported NextEra "has also given $1 million directly to Donalds."

The second-biggest corporate donor to the parties this fall was the prediction market Kalshi, Seeking Rents reported. It gave the Republicans nearly $4.3 million.

No record we read ties any of these gifts to a rate case, a data center deal, a Public Service Commission act or any vote.

Who sets FPL's rates

The Public Service Commission's nominating council names at least three people for each opening, state law says. The governor appoints one of them after a state background check, and the Senate must confirm. We found no current opening with a date.

On NextEra's Oct. 21 call with investors, Ketchum said "we remain confident in our ability to announce a large load transaction by the end of the year." FPL President and CEO Scott Bores said of such deals: "These are complicated deals, multi-billion dollar deals that take some time."

Seeking Rents reported that NextEra is trying to develop hyperscale data centers around Florida. Executives expect to announce at least one major project in the state by year's end, it reported.

During the campaign, Donalds told the Florida Phoenix: "It starts with local control. If local governments don't want them, they won't build them." Jolly's campaign called in July for "an immediate halt on the building of such sites."

FPL also gave the Republican Governors Association $2.5 million on Sept. 21, the Energy and Policy Institute, a utility watchdog, reported. It called that the largest single company gift the group has received since at least 2023.

Who's who

John Ketchum is chairman, president and chief executive of NextEra Energy and chairman of FPL. NextEra calls FPL "America's largest electric utility." Byron Donalds, a Republican congressman, will be Florida's first Black governor, NBC News reported. David Jolly was the Democratic nominee.

Their side

NextEra says it takes part in politics "because it believes that good government policy benefits its customers." It says it "may support candidates and organizations that share an interest in public policy that advances affordable energy." A board committee oversees its lobbying, and "where permitted by law, NextEra Energy makes state-level political expenditures," its policy says. We found no NextEra statement on these gifts.

What's next

What's next: Donalds takes office Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2027. NextEra and FPL say they expect to announce a large-load deal by the end of the year.

Sources we read

Florida Division of Elections campaign finance database: contributions from Florida Power & Light and NextEra Energy Capital Holdings to the Republican Party of Florida, the Florida House Republican Campaign Committee, the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Democratic party committees and Friends of Byron Donalds, read Nov. 8. Seeking Rents (Jason Garcia), Nov. 1. NextEra Energy SEC filings (2022 prospectus supplement; Q3 2026 release). NextEra Energy's leadership and political engagement pages. The Motley Fool's transcript of NextEra's Oct. 21 call. Washington Examiner, May 18. Jax Today, WUSF and NBC News, Nov. 3. Florida Phoenix via WUSF (Mitch Perry), Sept. 16. The Capitolist, July 21, and David Jolly's campaign release, July 16. Florida Statutes s. 350.031. Energy and Policy Institute, Oct. 23. ABC7 Sarasota, Aug. 18.