You may have seen a recent Herald Tribune article about a group of Southwest Florida air conditioning contractors that have organized in opposition to FPL’s expansion into for-profit home services.
Perhaps you just saw the headline, “Private contractors organize coalition to oppose FPL’s new services”, and decided, “this doesn’t affect me”, but here’s why you should be concerned…
Florida Power & Light (FPL), the largest utility in the state (and the 3rd largest in the country), recently purchased Jupiter-Tequesta Air Conditioning, Plumbing and Electrical and re-branded it as FPL Energy Services. This unregulated subsidiary is leveraging the assets of its state-regulated parent and improperly accessing the data of its 10 million customers to offer them services like surge protection, water heater and plumbing protection, and now air conditioning maintenance.
Tucked neatly in your utility bill, you’ll find a too-good-to-be-true AC Maintenance offer from FPL Energy Services, but that’s just what it is – too good to be true…
The following is the press release from MACCA:
***PRESS RELEASE***
COALITION LAUNCHES TO OPPOSE FPL’S PREDATORY EXPANSION
A state-wide small business alliance called the MEP Coalition for Fair Competition launched today to oppose Florida Power & Light’s (FPL) predatory practices. Specifically, the coalition stated that the company is using its public resources for private gain in the home services market including air conditioning, heating, plumbing and electrical services. MEP is an acronym for mechanical, electrical and plumbing contractors. www.MEPCoalition.org
Coalition organizers include the South Florida Air Conditioning Contractors Association (SFACA), the Southwest Florida Air Conditioning Contractors Association (SWACCA), the Manasota Air Conditioning Contractors Association (MACCA) and the Florida Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Contractors Association (FRACCA).
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