TALLAHASSEE, Florida — NextEra Energy and a pair of Florida retirement funds have proposed entering a $150 million settlement to resolve a class-action securities lawsuit, according to court filings posted Monday.
If approved, the settlement would mark the end of a yearslong battle between investors and FPL, the state’s largest electric utility, over the handling of past political scandals. Defendants in the case, including NextEra, its subsidiary Florida Power & Light and former top executives from both companies, would pay $150 million in a fund to be recovered by investors who purchased or acquired NextEra securities between Dec. 2, 2021, and Feb. 1, 2023. There are likely at least 200,000 eligible members of the settlement class, according to court filings.
The lead plaintiffs in the case, the City of Hollywood Police Officers’ Retirement System and the Pembroke Pines Firefighters & Police Officers Pension Fund, said in Monday court filings that continuing the lawsuit would guarantee “significant challenges, risks, and delays” and urged the court to issue preliminary approval of the settlement.
“The Retirement Funds developed and pursued a novel theory of recovery: that after NextEra Energy, Inc. and its subsidiary Florida Power & Light Co. denied reports of involvement in political wrongdoing, NEE’s subsequent disclosure of elevated risks and the resignation of a top executive revealed the truth and caused investor losses,” the plaintiffs wrote.
