Plant Outage Weighs on FPL ‘09 EPS

FPL Group Inc. (FPL) announced that an extended outage at the company’s Seabrook Station nuclear power plant and a continuing poor wind resource are expected to reduce 2009 forecasted earnings by $0.17 to $0.21 per share. The company had previously guided 2009 adjusted earnings to be in the range of $4.10 to $4.20 per share. 

The Seabrook Station nuclear plant underwent a planned refueling outage in October. The outage included replacement of one portion of the steam turbine rotor, a non-nuclear plant component with no impact on nuclear safety. But in early Dec, the plant outage was extended, closing the plant to correct the identified turbine rotor vibration issue. The company expects the plant to return to operations by the end of 2009. 

Another factor affecting FPL group’s 2009 earnings is the poor wind resource across its fleet of wind turbines. The company notes that the wind resources are affected by the El Nino weather pattern experienced in North America. 

However, the company reiterated its 2010 adjusted earnings forecast of $4.25 to $4.85 per share, since it expects the Seabrook plant be back on line before the end of 2009. 

FPL Group Inc. is a leading clean energy company with 2008 revenues of more than $16 billion, approximately 39,000 megawatts of generating capacity, and more than 15,000 employees in 27 states and Canada. The company’s principal subsidiaries are NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, and Florida Power & Light Company. Through its subsidiaries, FPL Group collectively operates the third largest U.S. nuclear power generation fleet.

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