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FPL Hosts Community Open Houses, Shares Information About Alternative Routes for a New Power Line Needed to Serve Manatee and Sarasota Counties; The Public is Invited to Attend Open House Activities on Aug. 30-31, 2006

Posted on: Friday, 18 August 2006, 18:00 CDT

Florida Power & Light Company announced today its plan to share information with the community as well as collect community comments about alternate routes under consideration for a proposed, new power line to serve the growing electric needs of Manatee and Sarasota counties. The new power line will not only benefit the region by providing additional power to the area; it also will enhance the strength, reliability and security of the electric grid for everyone.

FPL has scheduled two open house events for interested community members to speak one-on-one with project team members, share ideas, learn about the project, and view maps of potential routes. No formal presentation is planned. The open house events will be held as follows: Wednesday, Aug. 30, between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Harvest United Methodist Church (Lakewood Ranch) 14305 Covenant Way, Bradenton (1/4 mile north of University Parkway on Lorraine Road) Thursday, Aug. 31, between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Parrish United Methodist Church 12180 U.S. Hwy 301 N, Parrish

"The open house events are just one way we're seeking local community input about a new transmission line needed for the area," said Mel Klein, external affairs manager, for FPL. "By meeting with people interested in the project throughout the route selection process, we'll work out a plan to best meet the needs of the community and enable the company to meet its obligation to provide reliable electric power."

FPL plans to construct the 230 kilovolt (kV) single-pole transmission lines to connect a recently upgraded power plant near Parrish in Manatee County to a new substation to be located east of I-75 in Sarasota County,

The new, overhead transmission line must be in place by 2011 in order to maintain service reliability in the area. Because the power line will be more than 15 miles long and cross county lines, it will be certified through a process prescribed by the Florida Transmission Line Siting Act.

In addition to the upcoming open house events, FPL has collected local input on the project through a community advisory panel, a direct mail survey, toll-free telephone number, e-mail and a project Web page.

Interested community members are encouraged to continue to communicate with the company through e-mail at Bobwhite-ManateeProject@FPL.com. FPL will continue to update the project Web site, http://www.FPL.com/Bobwhite, throughout the process. Alternatively, a toll free telephone number is available (1-800-951-8849).

Potential routes for the proposed line are shown on the attached map or found at http://www.FPL.com/Bobwhite.

Florida Power & Light Company is the principal subsidiary of FPL Group, Inc. (NYSE:FPL), nationally known as a high quality, efficient and customer-driven organization focused on energy-related products and services. With annual revenues of more than $11 billion and a growing presence in 26 states, FPL Group is widely recognized as one of the country's premier power companies. Florida Power & Light Company serves more than 4.4 million customer accounts in Florida. FPL Energy, LLC, FPL Group's wholesale electricity generating subsidiary, is a leader in producing electricity from clean and renewable fuels. Additional information is available on the Internet at http://www.FPL.com, http://www.FPLGroup.com and http://www.FPLEnergy.com.

Note to Editors: High-resolution logos and executive head shots are available for download at http://www.fpl.com/news/logos.shtml.

Source: Business Wire

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