April 7: Protest Perks of FPL Executives

By Sylvia Gurinsky

When the executives and financial stockholders of Florida Power & Light meet in Juno Beach on May 22, all stakeholders - that is, anyone whose power or job relies on FPL - should show up if they can. For a protest. A loud one.

Michael Mayo, the long-time columnist for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, deserves credit for posting the link to FPL's Security and Exchange Commission filing, so everyone can see for themselves what the executives get. Here's Mayo's blog:

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/mayo/blog/2009/04/fpl_executive_pay_flights_and.html

And here's the SEC filing:

http://www.investor.fplgroup.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=88486&p=irol-s16Text&TEXT=aHR0cDovL2NjYm4uMTBrd2l6YXJkLmNvbS94bWwvZmlsaW5nLnhtbD9yZXBvPXRlbmsmaXBhZ2U9NjI1Mjc2NiZhdHRhY2g9T04%3d


To save the trouble, go to Page 66, where you'll find the details about that out-of-town, voluntary physical exam in the requisite tiny print.

It's something to think about the next time the lights go out. Or the next time, heaven forbid, a hurricane hits South Florida and your power is out for weeks.

A big part of the problem in the current financial crisis is not just the Bernie Madoffs of the world, who take corruption to extremes. It's executives like the ones at FPL, who seem to not comprehend the lives of people who live in the real world. Those executives stopped living in that world long ago, and can't relate to those people their company is supposed to serve.

That's why those people should show up in Juno Beach on May 22. Yell. Scream. Protest the bonuses and perks the FPL executives get. Floridians deserve better from their power company than to have its bosses act like those at AIG.

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Note: I will be off for the next week-and-a-half, and will not post again until April 20. Happy Passover, Easter or two weeks of spring to all.