FORT MYERS, Fla. (PRWEB)
April 08, 2021

The Edison Awards is pleased to announce Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) as a new gold sponsor for its 2021 Edison Awards. In its 34th year, The Edison Awards recognizes international innovation and entrepreneurship in 15 categories. The event will be held in Fort Myers as a hybrid virtual and in-person experience from April 21-23, 2021, including an Earth Day celebration at Babcock Ranch, America’s first solar-powered town in partnership with FPL.

“We’re looking forward to a long and successful partnership with FPL,” said Edison Universe Executive Director Frank Bonafilia. “There are a number of unique opportunities that exist between the Edison Awards’ support for innovation and FPL, including their new 35 Mules innovation hub.”

In September 2020, 35 Mules – an innovation hub powered by FPL – opened its doors in Juno Beach, Fla., welcoming six early-stage companies in the energy, water and energy-adjacent industries. The startups are utilizing more than 90 years of FPL and NextEra Energy insights, skills and solutions to help bring their brightest ideas to life faster, smarter and at scale further supporting the state’s economic growth and flourishing business environment. 35 Mules offers each of the startup companies a dedicated workspace on campus, access to subject matter experts, executive coaching, and a grant to put toward their ventures. Applications for the second cohort will open in summer 2021.

“Our goal with 35 Mules is to foster innovation by attracting the best startups and entrepreneurs from around the world and help them grow their businesses right here in Florida,” said Crystal Stiles, senior director of economic development. “We know Florida is the best state in the nation to live, work and build your business. We look forward to welcoming the Edison Awards to the Sunshine State and showcasing all of the resources our state has to offer.”

FPL is the largest energy company in the United States as measured by retail electricity produced and sold and serves more than 5.6 million customer accounts or more than 11 million residents across Florida. Its team is committed to delivering America’s best energy value to its customers – electricity that’s not just among the cleanest and the most reliable in the country, but also affordable. Its parent company, NextEra Energy, is the world’s largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and is a world leader in battery storage.

Babcock Ranch developer Kitson & Partners and FPL partnered and broke ground on the FPL Babcock Ranch Solar Energy Center in 2015. The solar energy center now delivers emissions-free energy to FPL’s energy grid, powering Babcock Ranch and beyond. In 2018, FPL created the largest combined solar-plus-storage facility operating in the U.S. when it added a 10-megawatt battery storage system to the FPL Babcock Ranch Solar Energy Center. The system captures energy generated by the solar energy center and stores it for later use, improving reliability for thousands of local homes and businesses. In 2020, the FPL Babcock Preserve Solar Energy Center came online, creating a total of 150 megawatts of solar power generated at the ranch.

For more information on Edison Awards, including both virtual and in-person ticketing options, visit edisonawards.com.

Edison Awards

Over the last 34 years, being recognized with an Edison Award has become one of the highest accolades a product can receive in the name of innovation success. The awards are named after Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) whose inventions, new product development methods, and innovative achievements changed the world, garnering him 1,093 U.S. patents and making him a household name around the world. The Edison Awards are operated by Edison Universe, a 501c3 non-profit organization with the mission of recognizing, honoring and fostering innovations and innovators. For more information on attending go to http://www.edisonawards.com

Florida Power & Light Company is the largest energy company in the United States as measured by retail electricity produced and sold, serving more than 5.6 million customer accounts supporting more than 11 million residents across Florida with clean, reliable and affordable electricity. FPL operates one of the cleanest power generation fleets in the U.S. and in 2020 won the ReliabilityOne® National Reliability Excellence Award, presented by PA Consulting, for the fifth time in the last six years. The company was recognized in 2020 as one of the most trusted U.S. electric utilities by Escalent for the seventh consecutive year. FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy, Inc. a clean energy company widely recognized for its efforts in sustainability, ethics and diversity, and has been ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry in Fortune’s 2020 list of “World’s Most Admired Companies.” NextEra Energy is also the parent company of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world’s largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. For more information about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites: NextEraEnergy.com, FPL.com, NextEraEnergyResources.com

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