NextEra Focused On Providing Holistic Energy Services To C&I Customers

In reporting earnings, NextEra Energy executives highlighted its Energy Resources business's focus on providing holistic energy services to C&I customers

Rebecca Kujawa, NextEra's Executive Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer, cited a growing opportunity to serve C&I customers, not just with PPAs, but in becoming a more holistic energy solutions provider to C&I customers.

"[W]e are positioning the business to be the preferred strategic partner with C&I customers," executives said

"And we are looking at the business in a holistic way, where we can provide clean energy solutions across the board. It’s wind, it’s solar, it’s storage, it’s hydrogen, it’s mobility -- the First Student transaction that we just announced today [see details below]. It’s an energy management services capability. It’s analytics. All the things we’ve done for decades, we can now offer to C&I customers and we’ve got a huge head start," executives said

"[O]ver the past few years there has been an increased focus on environmental, social and governance, or ESG, on the part of many of our stakeholders. While we expect this trend to amplify demand among our traditional customers and in our core renewables business, we also believe that it is opening up significant new markets and business opportunities for Energy Resources," NextEra Chairman and Chief Executive Officer James Robo said

"We anticipate our development program to be further enhanced by an ability to attract new, non-traditional customers, particularly in the commercial and industrial sector, as improving renewable economics are increasingly aligned with corporate objectives to procure energy from clean generation sources," Robo said

NextEra said that its Energy Resources business is in "advanced discussions" with a number of potential customers across the industrial landscape, including in food processing, specialty chemicals, and refineries, to develop economic clean energy solutions for more efficient, green production processes.

"One potential project includes a solar-tracker combined with an electrolyzer at a large industrial plant. The project would deliver green hydrogen as an industrial feedstock for the facility and, when not producing hydrogen, the solar power would offset a portion of the plant’s energy consumption, further decarbonizing the facility’s operations," NextEra said

NextEra also announced what it called, "a new innovative green hydrogen project at Energy Resources that includes a 12-megawatt solar array, onsite hydrogen production and storage, and a hydrogen fuel cell."

This emissions-free project will utilize solar energy to create green hydrogen to power the fuel cell, which will be able to provide electricity to the local grid during periods of peak demand. Subject to final terms and regulatory approvals, this approximately $20 million innovative green hydrogen project is expected to begin construction in 2022, with commercial operations in mid-2023

In addition, NextEra Energy Resources announced a planned partnership with First Student, Inc. and First Transit, Inc. to pursue large school bus fleet conversions to electric and hydrogen

Specifically, "First Student, Inc., First Transit, Inc., and NextEra Energy Resources, LLC today announced they have entered into a framework agreement and are working toward a joint venture to pursue the electrification of tens of thousands of school and public transportation vehicles across the U.S. and Canada," the companies announced

NextEra reported that its Customer Supply business recorded $258 million in Adjusted EBITDA for the fiscal year 2020