The U.S.-based energy company NextEra Energy reported a net income of $1.52 billion for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2022, up by 26.41% year-over-year (YoY), driven primarily due to successful executions of growth initiatives by all businesses of the company.

NextEra Energy’s net income for the full year 2022 increased by 16% to $4.15 billion.

NextEra Energy is a holding company for a regulated retail utility (the combined Florida Power & Light (FPL) and Gulf Power that together have about six million customer accounts) and an unregulated generation subsidiary, NextEra Energy Resources, which generates clean energy from solar, wind, and nuclear power.

The clean energy business of the company, NextEra Energy Resources, reported a YoY increase of 17.04% in net income for Q4 at $996 million.

The growth during the quarter was due to new additions to its renewables and storage portfolio clubbed with higher margins in NextEra’s customer-facing businesses.

NextEra Energy Resources added approximately 8.03 GW of renewables and storage capacity to the backlog.

Since the third-quarter 2022 financial results call in October, NextEra Energy Resources has installed approximately 1.7 GW of renewables and storage projects, including ~300 MW of wind, 730 MW of solar, and 670 MW of battery storage. NextEra Energy Resources’ renewables backlog now stands at ~19 GW after placing roughly 4.6 GW into service in 2022.

However, NextEra Energy Resources’ net income for 2022 decreased by 52.42% to $285 million.

During the year, the company faced ESG project concerns with a fine of $8 million for eagle kills from wind turbines for NextEra and also reduced solar installations due to limits on solar module sourcing from China. The lower return on renewables was also attributed to the slowing of new projects due to more emphasis on backup generation and batteries for renewables to ensure grid stability.

With a notable increase in the net income reported for Q4 2022, the company maintains a positive outlook for the coming quarters.

“With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, we are better positioned to offer low-cost renewables and other clean energy solutions to customers into the latter half of the decade and beyond. Amid a challenging macro environment, we invested more than $19 billion in American energy infrastructure and commissioned roughly 5,000 megawatts of new renewables and storage. This terrific performance in a year of significant supply chain disruption, inflationary pressures, and higher interest rates is a testament to the strength and resiliency of our team and our competitive advantages,” said  John Ketchum, the Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of NextEra Energy.

In October last year, NextEra Energy Resources, along with Portland General Electric (PGE), commissioned the first co-located utility-scale wind, solar, and battery storage-based project in North America to supply clean energy to its customers in Oregon. The Wheatridge Renewable Energy project near Lexington in Morrow County of Oregon comprises 300 MW of wind, 50 MW of solar, and 30 MW of battery storage.

Source:NextEra Energy

Florida Power and Light Company, owned by NextEra Energy posted a YoY jump of 23% in its net income at $763 million mainly driven by continued investment in the business followed by FPL’s strong retail sales in Florida where it provides electricity to over 5.8 million customer accounts. FPL’s net income for 2022 grew by 15.6% to $3.7 billion.

FPL placed approximately 450 MW of cost-effective solar in service during the year.

Despite record inflationary pressures, FPL further reduced its non-fuel operations and maintenance costs compared to 2021 while deploying additional low-cost solar and providing exceptional reliability.

NextEra Energy’s net income for the third quarter increased YoY by 13.4% to $1.68 billion. The company had said that the growth was majorly due to strong demand amid surging power prices.

Florida Power and Light recorded a strong first quarter as the electric utility posted a YoY growth of 12.7% in its net income at $875 million.